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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

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IN    THE    HOUSEHOLD   OF  FAITH 


BV   THE    SAME  AUTHOR 

THE  OLD  CHURCH  IN  THE  NEW 
LAND.     Crown  8vo,  $1.25. 

CALL  TO  CONFIRMATION.  A  Manual 
of  Instruction  for  Candidates.  Paper, 
12  cents  net ;    cloth,  25  cents. 


LONGMANS,  GREEN,  cS:    CO. 

New  York 


IN  THE 
HOUSEHOLD  OF  FAITH 


THE    REV.    C.    ERNEST    SMITH,    M.A. 

RECTOR   OF  THE   CHURCH   OF   ST.    MICHAEL  AND   ALL   ANGELS, 

BALTIMORE,    MD.;    EXAMINING   CHAPLAIN  TO   THE 

BISHOP  OF   MARYLAND 

AUTHOR   OF   "  THE  OLD    CHURCH   IN   THE   NEW   LAND  " 

"call  TO   CONFIRMATION,"    ETC. 


NEW  YORK 
LONGMANS,   GREEN,    AND    CO. 

LONDON   AND   BOMBAY 
I 


Copyright,  1895,  by 
LONGMANS,   GREEN,   AND   CO. 


TROW  DIRECTORY 

PRINTINQ  AND  BOOKBINDING  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK 


TO  THE 

RIGHT    REV.    WILLIAM    PARET,    D.D.,    LL.D. 

BISHOP   OF   MARYLAND 

AS    A    SLIGHT    TOKEN    OF    AFFECTION 

AND    IN    SINCERE   ADMIRATION    OF    HIS    EPISCOPAL    WORK 

FROxM    ONE    OF    HIS    CHAPLAINS 


PREFACE 

This  book  is  not  meant  to  be  controversial.  It 
has  not  been  my  wish  to  point  out  the  deficien- 
cies of  other  Christian  bodies,  nor  to  magnify  the 
differences  between  us  and  them.  My  only  de- 
sire has  been  to  strengthen  our  own  Church  peo- 
ple in  the  faith  of  the  Gospel. 

If  necessary  at  any  time  it  is  certainly  so  in 
these  days  of  multiplied  activities  within  and 
without  the  Church  of  God.  Quite  recently  the 
secular  press  noted  the  evangelistic  labors  of  a 
Roman  bishop  in  a  place  where  "  there  is  no 
[Roman]  Catholic  Church,  and  it  is  said  not  a 
[Roman]  Catholic  in  the  place."  * 

I  mean  not  in  the  least  to  take  to  task  this  good 
bishop,  nor  any  others  who  would,  like  him,  seek 
to  make  proselytes.     They  have  a  zeal  for  God, 

*  Bishop  Curtis,  of  Wilmington,  Del.,  and  Rev.  Edward  Mickle,  of 
Cape  Charles  City,  Va. ,  will  give  a  four-days'  mission  in  a  hall  at  Onan- 
cock,  Va.,  beginning  February  i8th.  Bishop  Curtis  has  been  very  ac- 
tive in  establishing  churches  on  the  peninsula  of  Delaware,  Maryland, 
and  Virginia.  There  is  no  Catholic  church  in  Onancock,  and  it  is  said 
not  a  Catholic  in  the  place. — Daltimoi-c  Su??^  February,  1895. 


viii  PREFACE 

but,  nevertheless,  a  zeal,  as  I  humbly  believe,  not 
according  to  knowledge.  Believing  this,  I  must, 
even  at  the  risk  of  seeming  to  be  uncharitable, 
tell  Church  people  why  they  should  cling  closely 
to  their  Church,  value  her  ministrations,  love  her 
for  what  she  has  been  and  is,  and  bring  into  her 
fold  all,  as  many  as  they  can ;  for  what  I  concede 
to  others  that  I  also  claim.  If  it  be  thought  an 
ungracious  thing  to  deliver  the  message  to  one's 
own,  to  speak  the  truth  v/hatever  that  truth  may 
be,  to  be  faithful  to  one's  own  convictions  and 
one's  own  sense  of  duty — so  let  it  be.  I  am  con- 
tent to  be  in  ''  the  glorious  company  of  the  Apos- 
tles," and  in  the  ''goodly  fellowship  of  the  Proph- 
ets," who  also,  in  their  day,  were  adjudged  to  be 
unkind  and  uncharitable  in  their  teachings. 

But  yet  I  hail  those,  who  are  separated  from  us, 
as  brethren.  I  am  not  so  blind  as  to  be  unable  to 
recognize  and  admire  the  hol}^  and  devoted  lives 
of  very  many  among  those  who  are  not  o?ic  with 
us.  I  am  sure  that  such  were  made  members  of 
the  Church  of  Christ  in  their  baptism.  With 
gladness  and  reverence  do  I  acknowledge  in  all 
their  good  works  the  operation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  I  truly  believe  that  they  are  very 
dear  to  the  heart  of   Him  who  is  our  common 


PREFACE  IX 

Lord.      I   trust   we    have   a   fellowship   in   their 
prayers  as  they  have  in  ours. 

Brethren  !  Separated  as  we  are  now,  we  yet 
trust  that  we  shall  be  some  day  forever  united. 
Meanwhile,  ''  My  heart's  desire  and  prayer  to 
God  for  Israel  is,  that  they  might  be  saved."  ^ 

*  Rom.  X.  I. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

I.  Introductory,      3 

II.  God's  Household, 21 

III.  The  Birth  and  Coming  of  Age  of  a  New  Sister,  35 

IV.  The  Sister  in  England, 53 

V.  The  Sister  in  Scotland, 69 

VI.  The  Sister  in  Ireland, 89 

VII.  The  Divine  Constitution  OF  THE  Catholic  Church,  107 

VIII.  The     Human     Organization     of     the     Catholic 

Church   in  America, 129 

IX.  Causes  of  the  Great   Progress  of  the  Church,  153 

X.  Popular  Objections  Against  the  Church,     .         .175 

XI.  The  Bible, i97 

XII.  The  Bible  in  the  Church, 219 

XIII.  The  Book  of  Common  Prayer,         .         .         .         .237 

XIV.  The  Prayer-Book  in  the  Church,  .         .         .257 
XV.  The  Hymnal,  or  Book  of  Common  Praise,    .        .  271 


I. 

INTRODUCTORY 


I. 

INTRODUCTORY 

"  The  Moon  above,  the  Church  below, 
A  wondrous  race  they  run. 
But  all  their  radiance,  all  their  glow, 
Each  borrows  of  its  Sun." 

—The  Christian  Year,  for  the  "  Sunday 
called  Septuagesima." 

"  You  cannot  put  the  Church  too  high  for  me, 
if  you  always  keep  the  head  above  the  body."  ^ 
In  this  saying  of  John  Stewart,  of  Virginia,  we 
have  one  of  those  "words  of  the  wise,"  which 
*'  are  as  goads,  and  as  nails  fastened  by  the  mas- 
ters of  assemblies."^  We  need  never  wish  for  a 
clearer  statement  of  that  "  union  which  is  betwixt 
Christ  and  His  Church."  If  we  will  but  bear  it 
in  mind,  we  shall  never  forget  that  the  Church 
*'  is  subject  unto  Christ  "  ^  in  everything  ;  and  for- 
getting not  this,  we  shall  neither  unduly  magnify 

1  Recent  Past,  Bishop  Wilmer,  p.  90. 
2Eccl.  xii.  II.  3Ephes.  v.  24. 


4  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

the  Church  as  some  do,  nor  depreciate  her  as  do 
others.  To  us  the  full  message  of  truth  will 
always  be  ''  Concerning  Christ  and  the  Church." 

But  between  the  Church  as  St.  Paul  knew  her, 
and  the  Church  as  we  know  her  now,  there  are 
two  great  differences.  In  St.  Paul's  time  she  was 
but  small,  and  her  members  for  the  most  part  in- 
significant and  untaught :  ^'  Not  many  wise  men 
after  the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many  no- 
ble," ^  had  been  called  into  her  ranks.  A^ow  she 
is  in  ever}^  land,  and  her  children  are  all  sorts  and 
conditions  of  men.  There  has  been  a  glorious 
change :  ''  The  little  one  has  become  a  thousand, 
and  the  small  one  a  strong  nation."  This  is  the 
first  difference.  Would  that  the  other  were  like 
it!  But  it  is  not.  The  once  compact,  undivided 
body  is  no  longer  one  and  undivided.  Strife  has 
entered  in.  She  is  no  more  "  one  in  faith  and 
doctrine,  one  in  charity."  The  seamless  coat  has 
been  rent.     This  is  the  second   great  difference. 

And  our  joy  at  her  onward  march  is  saddened 
by  the  knowledge  that  Christ's  own  prayer  for 
her  unity — the  unity  that  exists  between  Himself 
and  His  Father— yet  tarries  for  its  fulfilment. 

To  some  Christians   this  breach    in  her   ranks 

1 1  Cor.  i.  26. 


INTRODUCTORY  5 

may  not  seem  so  great  a  calamity.  We  have  even 
heard  some  of  these  speak  of  divisions  as  if  they 
were  an  advantage  to  the  Church.  "  What  are 
you  going  to  do,"  such  ask,  "  with  organic  unity 
when  once  obtained  ?  That  unity  may  mean  a 
great,  motionless,  powerless  machine."  And,  with- 
out waiting  for  reply,  they  go  on  to  tell  us  that,  as 
"  Diversity  means  life  "  in  the  natural  world,  and 
"  uniformity  death,"  so  it  is  in  the  spiritual  world. 
"  Diverse  organizations  with  diverse  methods  may 
mean  the  speediest  way  of  ushering  in  the  bright 
morning  of  millennial  splendor."  We  do  not 
share  this  rosy  view.  On  the  contrary,  we  are 
under  the  firm  conviction  that  the  greatest  ob- 
stacle to  the  progress  of  Christianity  is  what  the 
Pra3^er-Book  calls  ''  our  unhappy  divisions." 

God,  we  know,  often  brings  good  out  of  evil, 
and  no  doubt  these  very  divisions  have  been  pro- 
ductive of  benefit.  They  have  certainly  not  been 
altogether  evil.  Compensation  has  taken  place. 
What  has  been  lost  in  one  way  has,  to  some  ex- 
tent, been  regained  in  another.  We  see  this  in 
the  unanimous  consent  given  to  the  great  central 
truths  of  Christianity  by  those  who,  in  other 
ways,  are  far  apart.  We  can  happily  look  in  vain 
for  that  Christian  body  which  does  not  believe  in 


6  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

one  God,  the  Father,  and  in  the  one  only  begot- 
ten Son  of  God,  who  came  into  this  world  to  die 
for  man,  and  who  after  death  rose  again  and  as- 
cended into  heaven.  So,  too,  shall  we  seek  in 
vain  for  those  who  deny  that  there  is  any  Holy 
Ghost,  any  resurrection  of  the  dead,  or  life  of  the 
world  to  come.  So,  too,  shall  we  find  none  who 
maintain  that  repentance  and  faith  are  not  neces- 
sary to  Christian  men,  and  that  it  is  not  indispen- 
sable for  us  to  live  sober,  righteous,  and  godly  lives. 
Yet,  after  all,  these  are  the  essentials  of  religion. 

Concerning  methods  of  work  and  detail  of  wor- 
ship, the  discipline  and  polity  of  the  Church, 
almost  every  sect  of  Christians  has  its  own  theory, 
but  here,  at  least,  there  is  no  discord.  Unity  reigns 
supreme,  and  all  can  sing  with  heart  and  voice, 

"  We  are  not  divided, 
All  one  body  we." 

But  this,  as  Mr.  Gladstone  justly  observes,  "is  a 
marvellous  concurrence  evolved  from  the  very 
heart  of  discord."^  This,  however,  is  what  we 
mean  by  compensation,  and  a  very  remarkable 
instance  of  it.      Christian  dissensions  have  often 

1  Place   of   heresy   and    schism    in    the    modern    Christian   Church. 
Nineteenth  Century,  August,   1894. 


INTRODUCTORY  7 

driven  men  into  indifference,  or  atheism,  as  they 
drove  the  Emperor  JuHan,  but  the  sight  of  this 
striking  harmony  may  well  win  them  back.  Thus, 
from  that  which  has  caused  men  to  waver  in  the 
faith,  comes  the  very  antidote  to  revive  it :  the 
brazen  serpent  of  our  generation  is  seen  curing 
those  dying  of  the  serpent's  sting.  It  is  thus  that 
God  is  ever  undoing  Satan's  work.  Compensa- 
tion for  loss  is  the  order  of  His  dealings  with 
us. 

But  again.  There  is  another  good.  What  com- 
petition has  done  in  this  practical  workaday 
world,  it  has  done  in  the  spiritual  Kingdom  of 
God.  It  would  be  strange  were  it  not  so,  for  the 
citizens  of  the  one  are  citizens  of  the  other,  and 
the  Law-giver  is  the  same  in  both.  We  ourselves 
can  see  that  it  has  provoked  to  energy  and  zeal 
and  to  good  works.  Again  and  again  in  past  days 
there  has  stolen  the  spirit  of  slumber  into  the 
Church,  and  she  has  grown  weary  in  well-doing  : 
but  God,  seeing  her  peril,  has  provoked  her  to 
jealousy  by  them  that  were  no  people,  and  by  a 
foolish  nation  He  hath  angered  her.^ 

We  do  not  forget  this.  Yet  we  affirm  that  the 
spectacle  of  a  disunited  Church  is  Christendom's 

1  See  Rom.  x.  19  ;  cf.  Deut.  xxxii.  21. 


5  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

"open  sore,"  anci  that  schism  is  not  and  cannot 
be  according  to  the  will  of  God. 

We  now,  however,  make  a  large  claim  on  behalf 
of  our  i\nglican,  or  as  it  is  more  commonly  called, 
Episcopal  Church.  The  signs  of  our  times  are 
teaching  us  that  if  ever  there  is  to  be  a  united 
Church  again — one  flock  under  one  shepherd — 
it  will  be  due  to  the  work  and  influence  of  this 
Church,  ^lore  and  more  do  we  find  this  belief 
spreading  as  the  proofs  are  daily  multiplying. 
Great  hopes  are  centring  upon  her.  We  say  this 
not  boastfully.  If  ever  boasting  was  excluded  it 
is  here.  There  is  roomx  for  deep  humility  and  for 
heartfelt  thankfulness,  but  not  for  boasting.  Man- 
ifestly she  holds  the  keys.  She  cannot  help  doing 
so  even  if  she  would.  Her  position  is  unique.  She 
only  comes  into  contact  with  the  great  historic 
churches  of  the  West  and  of  the  East,  while  she 
alo7ie  of  historic  churches  is  largely  in  sympathy 
with  the  work  of  those  great  bodies  of  Christians 
which  are  yet  not  so  much  divisions  of  the  old 
Catholic,  Apostolic  Church,  as  churches  established 
on  a  new  basis.  What  may  be  in  store  for  her  we 
know  not.  The  hopes  she  is  inspiring  in  the  hearts 
oi  her  children  may  never  be  realized.  Upon  an- 
other, God  may  design  to  bestov/  the  blessing  of 


INTRODUCTORY  9 

the  peace-makers,  but  all  signs  point  to  her  as  the 
chosen  instrument  of  that  peace  v/hich  will  uplift 
the  hearts  of  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  in  sin- 
cerity and  in  truth.  When  Archbishop  Dionysius 
Latas,  an  archbishop  of  the  Holy  Eastern  Church, 
was  among  us,  addressing  the  great  congregation 
gathered  at  the  consecration  of  the  Sixth  Bishop 
of  Massachusetts,  he  used  these  remarkable  words : 
"  All  Christian  churches  will  cast  their  eyes  toward 
you  in  the  future,  when  by  the  grace  of  God  all 
take  steps  for  the  union  of  all  the  Christians  under 
one  authority  and  under  one  sceptre.  In  this  hope 
I  greet  you  as  my  brethren  in  Christ.  I  embrace 
your  Church,  this  Church,  as  my  Church."  May 
the  dear  Lord  speedily  join  in  the  bonds  of  a  love 
which  will  never  be  dissolved  those  who  are  now 
separated  from  one  another,  and  who  are  too  often 
forgetful  of  the  fact  that  they  are  all  children  of 
one  Almighty  Father,  who  reigns  over  and  guards 
them  all. 

The  Church  of  which  this  is  claimed  must  in- 
deed be  unimpeachable  in  character,  and  in  pos- 
session of  extraordinary  gifts.  Is  this  the  case? 
We  believe  that  it  is.  There  is,  at  any  rate,  no 
obstacle  to  a  full  and  free  inquiry  as  to  whether 
it  be    so  or  not.     This  Church  courts  publicity. 


lO  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

She  is  willing  to  submit  to  the  strictest  examina- 
tion as  to  all  she  is  or  has  been. 

Her  first  claim,  then,  is  that  she  is  a  safe 
Church.  Her  records  show  beyond  dispute  that 
no  human  architect  planned  her  palaces.  '^  Her 
foundations  are  upon  the  holy  hills,"  ^  for  she  is 
''  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  Apostles  and 
Prophets,  Jesus  Christ  Himself  being  the  Chief 
Corner-stone."^  We  do  not  here  imply,  nor  do 
we  think  it,  that  only  within  her  fold  is  safety  to 
be  found.  Even  if  an  angel  from  heaven  de- 
clared it,  we  could  not  believe  that  all  the  good 
and  holy  men  who  have  lived  and  died  outside 
her  communion  are  separated  from  God's  love, 
and  unreached  by  the  saving  benefits  of  Christ's 
death.  Such  would  be  to  us  another  gospel,  a 
gospel  inconsistent  with  God's  love  and  the  plain 
teaching  of  His  word,  as  when  He  said :  ''  Other 
sheep  I  have,  which  are  not  of  this  fold ;  them 
also  I  must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear  my  voice, 
and  there  shall  be  one  flock  and  one  shepherd."^ 
Surely,  too,  it  is  still  now  as  in  the  past :  **  He 
that  is  not  against  us  is  for  us."^  Here  is  the 
difference  between  us  and  our  Roman  Catholic 
brethren.     They  will  not  allow  that  outside  of  the 

'  Ps.  Ixxxvii.  I.         2  Ephes.  ii.  20.         •*  St.  John  x.  16.        ••  Luke  ix.  50. 


INTRODUCTORY  II 

pale  of  their  Church  is  there  any  salvation,  save 
perchance  through  *'  invincible  ignorance."  We 
shrink  from  such  a  thought.  With  us  the  love  of 
God  is  greater  than  the  Church  of  God.  Nay, 
after  all,  what  are  Methodists  or  Presbyterians, 
Baptists  or  Congregationalists,  but  Christians, 
even  as  we  ourselves?  Their  baptism  made  them 
nothing  less  than  members  of  Christ's  Holy 
Catholic  Church.  Ah,  then,  if  this  be  so,  we  may 
be  asked,  "  What  does  it  matter  which  Church  ?  '* 
It  matters  much.  It  is  not  all  a  question  of 
safety.  That  first,  but  some  things  come  after. 
This  Church  is  of  all  the  churches  the  most  help- 
ful, and  has  gifts  to  bestow  which  others  have 
not.  It  is  possible  to  cross  the  Atlantic  in  crafts 
small  as  the  caravels  of  Columbus — the  sport  and 
plaything  of  every  wave  ;  but  we  prefer  to  travel 
by  those  swift  steamers  which  can  more  speedily 
bring  us  to  the  other  side.  And  we  who  are  voy- 
agers on  life's  ocean,  an  ocean  which  washes  the 
shores  of  time  and  eternity,  will  do  well  to  ask 
how  best  we  can  accomplish  the  journey. 

Once,  when  Christ  crossed  the  Lake  of  Gennes- 
aret,  there  Avere  accompanjang  Him  ''  other  little 
ships."  All,  so  far  as  we  know,  reached  the  other 
side  in  safety.     We  know  Christ's  boat  did.     But 


12  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

who  would  not  have  wished  to  be  in  the  boat 
which  carried  the  Master  ?  True  it  is,  that  when 
the  voyage  of  life  is  over,  and  we  have  entered 
the  quiet  haven  where  storms  never  rage,  we 
shall  find  no  party  names.  There  none  will  care 
whether  we  were  Churchmen  or  Baptists.  There 
we  shall  be  Christians  only ;  followers  of  the 
Lamb,  redeemed  by  His  blood.  Yet  if  there  is 
one  way  better,  more  helpful,  safer  than  another, 
we  shall  surely,  if  we  are  wise,  choose  that  one 
way  before  all  others. 

And  while  we  say  this  Church  is  such  a  means, 
let  us  also  confess  our  belief,  that  in  this  we  find 
the  only  justification  for  her  existence  in  certain 
parts  of  our  country  ;  in  places  where  others  were 
before  her.  On  what  ground  did  she  enter  there 
at  the  eleventh  hour?  Simply  because  she  has 
that  to  offer  which  those  have  not.  Others  may 
have  Christ's  own  approval,  and  be  doing  His 
work  ;  but  she  is  Christ's  bride — His  body — and 
it  is  for  this  that  all  true  churchmen  would  rejoice 
greatly  if  they  could  hear  their  separated  breth- 
ren everywhere  coming  to  their  own  beloved 
Mother  and  saying  :  "  We  will  go  with  you,  for  we 
have  heard  that  God  is  with  you."  ^     She  is  build- 

1  Zech.  viii.  23. 


INTRODUCTORY  1 3 

ing  up,  we  believe,  by  her  teaching  and  her  sys- 
tem, the  noblest  type  of  Christian  character  ever 
seen  on  earth.  In  the  vineyard  of  the  Church 
are  the  fairest  flowers  grov^m. 

We  speak  in  no  proselyting  spirit.  Of  prose- 
lyting, indeed,  merely  for  the  sake  of  gaining  con- 
verts and  swelling  the  numbers  of  the  Church — 
we  wish  none  of  it.  But  we  do  earnestly  desire 
to  gain  others  for  their  sake — for  their  own  souls' 
good.  Judged  by  her  own  claims,  the  Church 
may  not  be  silent.  Unless  aggressive,  she  is  but 
as  the  servant  who  buried  his  master's  talent. 
She  is  as  salt  without  savour.  She  has  but  a 
name  to  live.  Claiming  to  have  gifts  from 
Heaven,  she  must  tell  men  what  she  has  received, 
whether  they  will  hear  or  whether  they  will  for- 
bear. 

But  what  is  the  Episcopal  Church  that  it  should 
make  so  vast  a  claim  ?  Is  it  not  the  least  of  all 
the  churches  ?  By  no  means.  The  Episcopal 
Church  is  far  from  being  a  small  one.  But  if  it 
were,  that  would  be  no  argument.  .We  know  what 
Bethlehem  was  to  Judah  and  the  whole  world  ; 
*'  But  thou,  Bethlehem  Ephratah,  though  thou  be 
little  among  the  thousands  of  Judah,  yet  out  of 
thee  shall  he  com.e  forth  unto  m.e  that  is  to  be 


14  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

ruler  in  Israel ;  whose  goings  forth  have  been 
from  of  old,  from  everlasting."  ^  But  this  Church 
is  not  small.  On  the  contrar}^  she  is  mighty  in  the 
number  of  her  members.  There  is,  we  know,  no 
infallibility  promised  to  mere  numbers.  A  multi- 
tude may  do  evil.  But  whether  men  will  hear  or 
whether  they  will  forbear,  she  is  the  largesrt  church 
of  English-speaking  nations.  She  stands  at  the 
head  of  the  list.  She  has  28,750,000  English- 
speaking  members.  The  Methodists  come  next 
with  18,500,000;  then  the  Roman  Catholics  with 
15,300,000;  then  the  Presbyterians  with  12,000,- 
000;  then  the  Baptists  with  8,180,000;  and  lastly, 
the  Congregationalists  with  6,000,000.^  And  this 
statement  is  more  significant  than  it  seems  to  be. 
English  is  destined  to  be  the  language  of  all  the 
world.  In  Shakespeare's  time  used  by  five  mill- 
ions of  people,  see  what  is  its  position  to-day. 
Already  it  is  native  and  dominant  over  one-fifth 
of  the  whole  habitable  globe.  It  is  spoken  all 
through  North  America  and  in  the  United  King- 
dom ;  in  the  West  India  Islands  and  in  the  islands 
of  the  Pacific.     It  is  spoken  from  the  Cape  of  Good 

*  Micah  V.  2, 

^  Vide  Whittaker's  English  Almanac.     The  Anglican  Communion  is 
a  unit.     The  Methodists,  Presbyterians,  and  Baptists  are  subdivided. 


INTRODUCTORY  1 5 

Hope  to  the  Zambezi  River;  throughout  New 
Zealand  and  the  Australian  Continent.  It  is  the 
language  of  the  high  seas,  and  of  every  maritime 
port  of  the  world.  It  is  the  language  of  commer- 
cial life,  and  even  of  the  international  commerce 
of  China  and  Japan.  More  than  one-half  of  the 
world's  newspapers  are  printed  in  it,  and  soon 
it  will  be  the  language  of  260,000,000  in  India. 
Now,  of  the  millions  using  this  tongue,  the  Epis- 
copal Church  claims  a  number  larger  than  any 
other  church.  While  year  by  year  the  English 
language  is  becoming  intelligible  to  new  regions 
and  divers  peoples,  sui*ely  then  to  the  church 
using  this  language  God  has  committed  the  gos- 
pel of  His  Kingdom. 

Three  different  classes  of  Christians  may  read 
these  words :  First,  those  who  are  Churchmen  by 
birth  or  adoption  ;  next,  those  who  are  members 
of  some  other  Christian  body  ;  and  lastly,  those 
who  "  are  members  of  no  church." 

A  word  to  each  : 

To  the  Churchman  we  say,  Love  your  church  ; 
be  proud  of  her;  thank  God  that  you  are  a 
Churchman.  "  The  lines  are  fallen  unto  you  in 
pleasant  places  ;  yea,  you  have  a  goodly  heritage."  ^ 

»  Ps.  xvi.  6. 


l6  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

To  the  members  of  other  churches: 

Are  you  a  Baptist  ?  We  are  indebted  to  your 
church  for  its  insistence  upon  baptism  as  some- 
thing more  than  a  mere  rite  or  empty  ceremony. 

Are  you  a  Methodist  ?  We  are  indebted  to  yours 
for  its  insistence  on  personal  religion. 

Are  you  a  Congregationalist  ?  We  are  indebted 
to  )^ours  for  its  defence  of  the  rights  and  powers 
of  the  congregation. 

Are  you  a  Presbyterian  ?  We  are  indebted  to 
yours  for  its  noble  stand  for  the  rights  of  Pres- 
byters. 

Are  you  a  Roman  Catholic  ?  We  are  indebted 
to  yours  because  she  has  been  jealous  for  the 
honor  of  the  bride  of  Christ. 

We  have  learned  something  from  all.  But  still 
to  all  we  say  :  "  Yet  show  we  unto  you  a  more 
excellent  way."  ^ 

We  do  not,  of  course,  here  contend  that  "  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America  "  is  without  faults.  We  are  not  in- 
deed blind  to  the  fact  that  with  her  as  with 
everything  else  that  the  hand  of  man  touches, 
there  are  manifold  imperfections — imperfections 
however  which  we  v/ould  only  too  thankfully 
see  removed. 

>     Cor.  xii.  31. 


INTRODUCTORY  \^ 

Yet  we  as  frankly  confess  our  belief  that  in  no 
other  church  on  earth  is  there  to  be  found  so 
much  real  aid  to  enable  us  to  lead  ''  a  sober,  right- 
eous, and  godly  life  "  as  we  find  in  her,  nor  so 
much  which  will  day  by  day  bind  us  closer  unto 
Him  who  is  always  our  only  Lord  and  Saviour. 
With  us,  she  is  the  King's  daughter,  ''  all  glorious 
within." 

Now,  finally,  a  word  to  those  who  have  no 
church  ties  or  pastoral  obligations.  You  are 
afraid  that  you  will  get  narrow  if  you  tie  yourself 
down  to  a  particular  church  or  congregation  ? 
You  think  it  best  to  go  to  all  churches  in  turn, 
believing  that  there  is  good  in  all  ?  Forgive  us 
if  we  say  that  this  seems  nothing  less  than  the 
elevation  of  a  fault  into  a  virtue.  Neglect  of  the 
pastoral  relationship  carries  with  it  neglect  of 
pastoral  obligations  and  of  pastoral  duties.  We 
have  in  metaphor  spoken  of  Christian  people  as 
voyagers  on  life's  ocean.  Let  us  go  back  to  the 
metaphor  again  and  say,  that  they  who  are  with- 
out any  church  relationship  seem  to  us  like  the 
drifting  derelicts  which,  abandoned  by  their 
crews,  are  driven  backAvard  and  forward  over 
the  wild  wastes  of  waters  until  they  go  down  be- 
neath them.     In   charge  of  no  captain,  showing 


1 8  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

no  lights,  drifting  under  the  influence  of  pass- 
ing wind  or  unseen  tide,  they  are  a  menace  to 
vessels  in  their  track.     Unite  with  some  congre-  j 

gation.  Take  up  some  work  for  Christ.  Catch 
the  inspiration  which  comes  from  united  effort, 
and  you  will  never,  never  regret  it ! 


II. 

GOD'S   HOUSEHOLD 


II. 

GOD'S   HOUSEHOLD 

"  Awake  and  give  the  blind  their  sight,  teach  praises  to  the 

dumb, 
O  Mother  Church  !  arise  and  shine,  for  lo  !  thy  Light  is  come  ! 
Till  all  the  faithful  through  the  world,  God's  one-elected  host. 
Shall  welcome  the  outpouring  of  a  brighter  Pentecost ; 
And  there  shall  be,  and  thou  shalt  see,  throughout  this  earthly 

ball. 
One  Church,  one  Faith,  one  Baptism,  one  God  and  Lord  of  all." 
— Neale's  "  The  Vigil  of  St.  Peter." 

The  revelation  of  the  Church  as  a  family  ap- 
peals to  our  hearts.  Its  very  simplicity  is  its 
beauty.  It  tells  of  familiar  things  ;  of  home  and 
home  life ;  of  kindly  feeling-  and  brotherly  fel- 
lowship ;  above  all,  of  parents'  watchful  care  and 
loving  guardianship.  Its  word  is  that  God  is  not 
only  our  God  but  our  Father. 

The  Church  is  thus  a  great  family  circle  v/ith 
its  centre  where 

"  The  One  Almighty  Father 
Reio^ns  in  love  for  evermore." 


22  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

This  family  life  began  at  Jerusalem.  From 
thence  the  Christian  race  sprang.  To  the  Chris- 
tian no  place  on  earth  can  be  dearer.  Jerusalem 
is  not  of  the  Jews  only.  Mother  she  is  of  the 
Church  below  ;  type  she  is  of  the  Church  above. 
''.For  our  brethren  and  companions'  sakes,  we 
will  wish  her  prosperity.  Yea,  because  of  the 
house  of  the  Lord  our  God  we  will  seek  to  do 
her  good."  ^ 

The  members  of  this  family  are  all  ^\ho  have 
been  baptized  into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Hol}^  Ghost.  The  living 
now  number  some  400,000,000!  Many  of  these 
may  be,  and  often  are,  unworth}^  of  their  privi- 
leges ;  others  have  gone  out  from  the  family,  and 
having  abandoned  all  outward  and  visible  mem- 
bership, are  living  in  open  neglect  of  their  plain- 
est duties  ;  yet  they  have  not  forfeited  member- 
ship in  this  sacred  household.  Once  a  child, 
always  a  child.  The  Parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son 
has  taught  us  this.  The  prodigal  may  forget  his 
father,  but  his  Father  always  remembers  him. 

How  great  a  body  is  this  Church  with  its  mill- 
ions of  children  scattered  throughout  the  world  ! 
How  like  in  this   to   that   mighty  ocean   which 

1  Ps.  cxxii.  8. 


GOD'S   HOUSEHOLD  23 

girdles  the  earth  in  its  wide  embrace — one  undi- 
vided, surging  mass — which  is  yet  but  millions  of 
drops  of  water.  Not  only  in  this  one  respect, 
however,  may  we  learn  a  lesson  from  the  ocean. 
We  speak  of  bays,  and  gulfs,  and  seas — what  are 
these  waters  but  portions  of  the  same  boundless 
sea  ?  There  is  no  real  division  and  there  is  no 
essential  difference.  Chesapeake  Bay  is  part  of 
the  Atlantic  ;  Drake's  Bay  is  part  of  the  Pacific : 
yet  both  alike  are  parts  of  the  same  whole. 

So  it  is  with  the  Church  ;  here  known  by  one 
name,  there  by  another,  it  is  the  same  every- 
where. It  is  God's  Church  ;  it  is  God's  family. 
Let  us  learn  a  lesson  from  civil  affairs.  In  Amer- 
ica we  have  some  sixty  millions  of  citizens,  every- 
one of  whom  is  a  member  of  the  American  fam- 
ily. Yet  when  we  speak  of  these  in  reference  to 
the  States  in  which  they  dwell,  it  almost  seems 
as  if  we  were  dealing  with  many  nations.  There 
are  New  Yorkers  and  Virginians ;  Georgians 
and  Californians,  and  some  forty  other  divi- 
sions besides  ;  yet  they  are  all  one  family  in  the 
land.  The  States  which  give  them  their  names 
are  but  sisters  in  the  one  family  which  lives  from 
Maine  to  California,  and  from  the  Northern  Lakes 
to  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.     And  the 


24  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

Churches  of  England,  of  Russia,  of  Spain,  of 
Greece,  of  Italy,  and  elsewhere  are,  in  a  similar 
way,  but  sisters  too.  They  are  as  the  States  in 
the  American  Union ;  as  the  seas  and  gulfs  which 
form  portions  of  the  ocean.  Not  really  different 
churches,  they  are  parts  of  one  body.  Language 
barriers,  racial  differences,  civil  boundaries,  geo- 
graphical divisions,  and  the  like,  have  given  them 
existence.  But  once  called  into  being  they  have 
all  received  equal  privileges,  and  have  become 
equally  responsible  for  the  discharge  of  a  com- 
mon work.  So  there  is  but  one  Church,  that 
which  sprang  out  of  Judah. 

In  the  course  of  the  centuries  which  have  elapsed 
since  the  birth  and  early  growth  of  the  family, 
there  has  been  a  tendency  on  the  part  of 
one  or  more  of  the  sisters  to  control  the  others, 
with  the  result  that  for  mutual  protection  they 
have  drawn  closer  to  each  other  in  efforts  to 
withstand  attempts  at  depriving  them  of  indepen- 
dence. Owing  to  this  and  other  causes,  all  na- 
tional churches  have  at  last  become  consolidated 
into  three  groups.     These  are  : 

(I)  The  Oriental,  or  Holy  Orthodox ; 
(II)  The  Latin,  or  Roman  Catholic; 

(III)  The  Anglican,  or  Anglo-Catholic. 


god's  household  25 

the  oriental,  or  holy  orthodox. 

The  sisters  forming  this  group  are  to  be  found 
in  Russia,  Greece,  Austria,  Turkey,  Egypt,  Syria, 
Palestine,  and  the  East  generally.  There  is  their 
rightful  home.  There  they  have  been  ever  since 
Christianity  was  first  preached  on  earth.  These 
sisters  are  the  oldest  of  all.  In  their  territory  not 
only  did  Jewish  Christianity  take  its  rise,  but 
Gentile  also.  Jerusalem,  cradle  of  Jewish  Chris- 
tianity, and  Antioch,  cradle  of  Gentile  Christianity, 
are  both  alike  seats  of  Archbishops  of  the  Holy 
Eastern  Church.  It  is  the  unspeakable  privilege 
of  this  Church  to  show  an  unbroken  succession  of 
Bishops  of  Jerusalem  from  St.  James  the  Just  to 
the  present  day.  Within  the  land  occupied  by 
these  Eastern  sisters  all  the  great  councils  of  the 
Church  were  held.  It  was  in  their  language  that 
the  oracles  of  God  in  the  New  Testament  were 
first  given  to  men.  The  Holy  Eastern  Church 
has  now  100,000,000  members  and  some  three 
hundred  bishops. 

THE   LATIN,   OR   ROMAN   CATHOLIC. 

The  sister  communities  or  churches  which  form 
this  group  are  found  in  such  countries  as  Italy, 


26  IN  THE  HOUSEHOLD   OF  FAITH 

Spain,  and  France.  They  are,  alas,  also  to  be 
found  in  territories  rightly  belonging  to  their 
Greek  and  Anglican  sisters,  as,  e.g.,  here  in  the 
United  States.  But  since  the}'  have  no  right  to 
occupy  those  fields,  they  are  simply  guilty  of 
creating  strife  by  dividing  the  household  against 
itself. 

There  is  one  feature  common  to  all  the  sisters 
of  this  group,  which  is  unlike  an3^thing  we  see 
either  in  the  Oriental  or  in  the  Anglican  groups. 
They  have  practically  given  up  all  independence 
of  thought  and  action,  and  have  placed  them- 
selves under  the  domination  of  their  sister  in 
Italy.  In  Apostolic  days,  as  we  have  said,  and  for 
centuries  after,  even  to  this  da}^  the  family  was 
under  the  government  of  bishops,  who  as  leaders 
were  fully  responsible  for  the  welfare  of  the  work 
committed  to  their  charge.  One  of  these  leaders 
in  old  time,  Cyprian,  himself  a  bishop,  expresses 
this  relationship  well :  "  The  Episcopate  is  one, 
and  each  bishop  has  a  share  in  it." 

All  this  has  been  done  away  with  in  the  Latin 
group.  Bishops,  of  course,  they  have,  for  these 
are  necessary  to  the  very  existence  of  any  part  of 
the  Church  ;  yet  they  hold  an  anomalous  posi- 
tion.    They  are  merel}^  the  agents  of  one  of  their 


god's  household  27 

own  order.  In  his  favor  they  have  for  the  present 
abdicated  their  own  proper  functions  of  guiding 
and  ruling  the  children  of  the  family.  In  this, 
history  repeats  itself.  Centuries  ago,  in  Scotland 
and  Ireland,  there  were  communities  of  monks 
which  were  presided  over  by  one  of  their  own 
order  as  Abbot,  among  whom  was  often  found  a 
bishop;  not  as  the  head  of  the  community,  but 
merely  to  ordain  and  confirm  when  called  upon 
to  do  so,  whose  position  therefore  was  very  simi- 
lar to  that  of  the  bishops  among  the  Moravians 
at  the  present  day.  The  bishop's  position  in  this 
group  is  very  much  akin  to  that.  Hence  we  are 
not  surprised  to  find  that  where  the  office  is  of 
little  account  it  is  held  by  large  numbers.  In 
Italy  alone  there  are  said  to  be  47  archbishops 
and  262  bishops!  What  more  need  we  say  to 
make  it  plain  that  these  bishops,  living,  as  they 
do,  under  the  shadow  of  the  Supreme  Pontiff, 
have  but  the  name  of  bishop  left  to  them,  all  real 
power  and  influence  having  long  since  been  taken 
away. 

THE  ANGLO-CATHOLIC   GROUP. 

The  sisters  which  form  this  group  may  gener- 
ally be  known  by  their  use  of  the  English  tongue. 


28  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

Spread  abroad  into  all  parts  of  the  earth,  they  are 
principally  found  in  Great  Britain  and  in  America. 
The  children  of  these  sister  churches  are  the  most 
progressive  and  the  best  educated  among  the 
nations.  They  number  nearly  300  bishops,  over 
31,000  clergy,  and  60,000,000  to  70,000,000  of 
people. 

The  churches  in  this  group  are  not  so  closely 
allied  to  each  other  as  those  of  the  Latin  group. 
They  have  kept  their  independence.  There  is, 
however,  a  strong  family  likeness,  so  that  often 
one  has  been  mistaken  for  the  other,  not  always 
for  its  good.  The  Presbyterians  in  Scotland,  in 
days  gone  by,  sought  to  destroy  the  Church  in 
that  country,  under  the  idea  that  they  wxre  de- 
stroying the  Church  of  England.  The  present 
agitation  against  the  Church  in  Wales  proceeds 
largely  from  the  mistaken  idea  that  she  is  an  alien 
Church,  imported  from  England ;  whereas  she  is 
in  reality  older  than  her  English  sister.  Here  too, 
in  America,  the  belief  that  this  Church  was  the 
same  as  that  of  England,  once,  for  a  while,  cost 
her  dear.  In  a  sense  she  is  the  same,  just  as  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Bay  of  Fund}^  are 
both  alike  parts  of  the  same  Atlantic  Ocean.  The 
methods  of  work,    the  standards  of  action,  and 


god's  household  29 

forms  of  service,  and  even  the  origin  of  the 
American  Church,  may,  however,  all  be  exactly 
identical  with  that  of  her  sister  in  England,  but 
she  is,  notwithstanding,  another  sister  in  God's 
great  Family. 

The  differences  which  part  these  groups  are  of 
long  standing.  It  is  an  old  story,  and  we  cannot 
go  fully  into  it  now.  But  this  much  we  may  say  : 
that  from  an  early  time  the  sister  in  Italy  sought 
to  persuade  the  others  that  she  was  appointed  the 
head  of  the  family,  and  had  received  powers  not 
given  to  any  other.  As  far  back  as  the  time  of  a 
bishop  named  Victor,  a.d.  196,  who  undertook 
to  give  orders  to  a  bishop  in  the  Greek  Church, 
on  the  ground  that  his  Church  was  superior,  the 
trouble  began.  In  Victor's  case  the  whole  Church 
promptly  suppressed  him,  and  for  many  years 
after  no  other  Italian  bishop  was  guilty  of  such 
presumption ;  but  later,  a  favorable  opportunity 
arising,  the  Italian  sister's  claims  were  again  set 
forward  and  enforced,  until  one  after  another  the 
ancient  churches  fell  under  her  control. 

The  Church  of  England  was  one  of  these,  yet 
only  for  a  short  time ;  for  she  rose  up  in  her 
might  and  threw  off  that,  yoke  as  unlawful.  Since 
then  the  Italian  Church  has  done  her  best  to  brine: 


30  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

the  ''lost"  back  to  her,  but  all  in  vain.  Some  of 
her  methods,  however,  are  strikingly  suggestive 
of  the  comedy  wherein  the  w^fe,  having  turned 
her  husband  out  of  doors,  sends  word  to  him  that 
if  he  will  only  return  she  will  freely  forgive  him 
all. 

Of  late,  between  some  members  of  the  Greek 
Church  and  our  own,  there  has  been  a  pleasing 
exchange  of  courtesies.  One  of  our  bishops  was 
courteously  invited  by  the  Archbishop,  the  Patri- 
arch as  he  is  termed,  to  celebrate  the  Holy  Sacra- 
ment in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  at 
Jerusalem.  More  recently  still,  at  a  late  Conven- 
tion service  in  New  York,  the  Greek  Archbishop 
of  Zante,  the  Most  Reverend  Dionysius  Latas, 
was  present  and  received  the  Hol}^  Communion. 
Those  who  saw  the  venerable  Archbishop,  in  his 
blue  and  purple  vestments,  kneeling  in  the  midst 
of  his  brethren  of  another  race  and  of  another 
speech,  were  ready  to  shed  tears  of  joy,  as  they 
recalled  the  words  of  the  Psalmist :  ''  Behold,  how 
good  and  joyful  a  thing  it  is,  brethren,  to  dwell 
together  in  unity."  ^ 

Later  still,  when  the  present  Bishop  of  Massa- 
chusetts was  consecrated  to  the  Episcopate,  the 

'  Ps.  133. 


god's  household  31 

same  Archbishop  joined  in  the  Laying  on  of 
Hands,  and  on  that  memorable  occasion,  not  in- 
deed the  first,^  the  Anglo-Catholic  and  the  Greek- 
Catholic  streams  of  the  Episcopate  were  virtually 
united.  This  man  was  a  scholar:  master  of  six 
languages ;  a  student  first  of  the  University  of 
Athens,  where  he  spent  four  years ;  afterward  of 
the  universities  of  Berlin,  Leipsic,  and  Strasburg, 
and  finally  of  Oxford,  he  was  one  of  those  men 
whom  the  whole  Church  may  well  delight  to 
honor. 

One  question  remains.  Are  the  denominations 
which  have  come  into  existence  in  recent  years 
members  of  this  body — this  Family  of  God  ? 
Some  of  them,  and  as  we  think  rightly,  say  not. 
*'  We  are  not,"  said  Dr.  Long,  a  Baptist  minister 
recently  preaching  in  Baltimore,  ''  an  ancient  his- 
toric Church.  We  are  new.  In  that  sense  the 
Catholic  Church  has  the  better  of  us."  This  cor- 
dial recognition  of  facts  is  worth  much,  both  to 
him  who  makes  it,  to  those  who  hear  it,  and  to  the 
Church,  whose  ancient  character  is  thus  unequivo- 

1  Dean  Stanley's  footnote  appended  to  an  account  of  how,  in  1871,  the 
Greek  Archbishop  of  Syra  and  Tenos  took  part  in  the  consecration  of 
two  bishops  in  Westminster  Abbey  is  inimitable:  "  It  is  interesting," 
he  wrote,  "to  remember  that  this  excellent  person,  not  holding  the 
double  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  according  to  the  Athanasian 
Creed,  without  doubt  shall  perish  everlastingly  !  " 


32  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

cally  and  voluntaril}^  admitted.  Similarly  may 
we  speak  of  other  churches  standing  on  the  same 
footing ;  they  too  are  new,  not  old.  Although, 
let  us  repeat  again,  every  baptized  person  is  a 
member  of  the  Family  of  God. 

Yet  how  then,  if  this  be  so,  it  may  be  asked, 
can  we  maintain  that  the  youngest  sister  in  any 
of  these  groups  is  old  ?  It  is,  we  reply,  all  a 
matter  of  historical  continuity.  When  Christ 
breathed  on  his  Apostles  in  Jerusalem,  he  kin- 
dled, so  to  speak,  the  sacred  fire  to  burn  till  he 
should  come  again.  The  Apostles  were  as 
torches  kindled  at  it.  The  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  is  no  other  than  a  tongue  of  that  fire. 
Late  in  coming,  it  was  no  new  light  when  it 
came.  In  the  old  tabernacle  and  in  the  later 
temple  there  was  a  fire  ever  burning.  It  is  con- 
ceivable that  the  priests  might  from  it  have  kin- 
dled several  fires  at  different  times  and  in  differ- 
ent places.  But  it  would  have  been  all  along  the 
same  fire  —  sacred  fire.  It  is  because  the  flame 
burning  brightly  here  is  traceable  back  to  the 
original  fire  at  Jerusalem,  that  our  Church  is  old. 


III. 


THE   BIRTH   AND  COMING  OF  AGE  OF 
A  NEW  SISTER 


III. 

THE   BIRTH   AND  COMING  OF  AGE  OF 
A  NEW  SISTER 

"  Late  from  this  western  shore  that  morning  chased 
The  deep  and  ancient  night  that  threw  its  shroud 
O'er  the  green  land  of  groves." 

— William  Cullen  Bryant. 

Had  but  the  existence  of  this  continent  been 
known  to  the  world  some  fifteen  hundred  years 
before  it  was,  our  Church  might  have  had  the 
honor  of  an  Apostolic  founder.  When  we  remem- 
ber that  the  Apostles  "  went  everywhere  preach- 
ing- the  Word,"  we  shall  not  think  this  at  all 
improbable.  On  the  contrar}^,  we  shall  feel  that 
some  member  of  the  Apostolic  College  would 
surely  have  paid  a  visit  to  this  land. 

As  it  was,  however,  Apostolic  Christianity  came 
to  the  shores  of  Britain  when  Britain  was  thought 
to  be  "the  utmost  bound  of  the  West,"  and  there 
halted.  Possibly  some  ardent  missionary  gazing 
over   the    Western   Ocean,  sighed    sadly    as    he 


S6  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

thought  there  were  no  more  worlds  to  conquer. 
He  did  not  know  of  this  mighty  continent  which 
lay  beyond  the  waters.  And  so  it  was  reserved 
for  the  American  Church  to  be,  as  St.  Paul,  ''one 
born  out  of  due  time."  So,  also,  it  was  reserved 
for  her  to  be  not  a  whit  behind  the  very  chiefest 
of  those  who  were  in  Christ  before  her. 

When  at  last  Christian  men  saw  America,  they 
gazed  on  a  scene  very  similar  to  that  which  lay 
stretched  before  the  eyes  of  the  first  missionaries 
to  the  remotest  parts  of  Europe.  Dense  forests 
and  a  fertile  soil  were  seen,  av/aiting  the  advent 
of  a  race  higher  than  that  of  the  natives  in  pos- 
session. Whence  came  these  natives?  In  answer 
to  this  inquiry,  a  curious  story  is  told  of  one  Mor- 
gan Jones,  a  Welshman,  which,  it  is  said,  points  to 
the  Welsh  as  "  the  rock  whence  they  were  hewn." 
Jones,  with  several  of  his  companions,  had  been 
actually  tied  to  the  stake,  to  be  tortured  to  death 
by  the  Tuscaroras,  when  he  burst  forth  in  prayer 
in  his  own  native  Welsh.  That  prayer  saved  his 
life.  ''  The  salvages  did  right  well  understand  his 
speech,"  and  they  let  him  go !  The  conduct  of  the 
Indians  was  doubtless  owing  to  some  other  reason. 

But,  whoever  they  were,  they  were  not  destitute 
of  a  belief  in  God.     Vaguely  they  worshipped  a 


COMING   OF  AGE   OF  A   NEW   SISTER  37 

Great  Spirit — whom,  alas!  they  only  ignorantly 
worshipped. 

The  privilege  of  leading  the  natives  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  this  Great  Spirit  was  seized  by  the  voy- 
agers who  first  reached  these  shores.  These  were 
not,  however,  what  we  understand  as  missionaries. 
Nor  had  they  left  their  home  in  England  to  preach 
Christianity  to  the  heathen.  They  were  on  busi- 
ness enterprises  bent.  But  those  were  days  when 
men  did  not  keep  religion  and  business  apart. 
Rather  did  they  remember  Christ's  words  :  ''  Seek 
ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  his  righteous- 
ness, and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you." 

What  an  insight  do  we  get  into  the  ideas  of 
those  early  traders  and  voyagers  as  we  look  at  one 
of  their  simple  bills  of  lading,  so  unlike  the  com- 
plicated and  formidable-looking  documents  in  use 
among  ourselves !  There  we  read  that  ''  the 
goods  are  shipped  b}^  the  grace  of  God,"  in  such- 
and-such  a  vessel,  ''sailing  by  God's  grace;"  and 
the  document  always  concludes  with  the  prayer: 
"  And  so  God  send  the  good  ship  to  her  desired 
port  in  safety.  Amen."  It  may  have  been  but  a 
form,  but  at  least  it  shows,  if  nothing  more,  that 
they  were  not  ashamed  of  their  religion.  They 
openly   claimed   the   protection   and  blessing   of 


38  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

God.  Such  merchantmen,  carrying  with  them 
one  to  be  their  minister  in  all  holy  things,  were 
the  first  to  proclaim  in  the  Western  world  the 
Gospel  of  Peace. 

As  lying  nearest  to  the  Old  World,  we  should 
have  thought  that  at  some  place  along  the  eastern 
shore  would  have  been  found  the  first  record  of 
so  notable  an  event.  But  it  is  not  here  that  we 
find  the  first  traces  of  their  presence.  For  these 
we  must  go  West.  In  Golden  Gate  Park,  in  the 
city  of  San  Francisco,  there  stands  a  tall  Celtic 
cross  bearing  on  the  east  side  this  inscription  :  "  A 
Memorial  of  the  Service  Held  on  the  Shores  of 
Drake's  Bay,  about  St.  John's  Day,  June  24,  a.d. 
1579,  by  Francis  Fletcher,  Priest  of  the  Church  of 
England,  Chaplain  to  Sir  Francis  Drake,  Chroni- 
cler of  the  Service."  On  the  west  side  the  space 
is  divided  into  four  tablets,  with  the  following  in- 
scriptions cut  in  the  stone:  i.  '*  First  Christian 
Service  in  the  English  Tongue  on  Our  Coast ;" 
2.  "  First  Use  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  in 
Our  Country ;  "  3.  "  One  of  the  First  Recorded 
Missionary  Prayers  in  Our  Country ; "  4.  ''  Sol^' 
Deo  sit  semper  gloria^ 

It  was  not  until  August  13,  1587,  nearly  ten  years 
afterward,  that  we  hear  of  a  similar  service  on  this 


COMING   OF   AGE   OF   A   NEW   SISTER  39 

Eastern  coast.  A  colony  had  settled  on  Roanoke 
Island,  in  North  Carolina  (then  in  Virginia),  and 
there  it  was  that  not  only  were  the  first  services 
held  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  but  the  first  re- 
corded baptism  in  the  New  World  of  a  native 
convert  took  place.  Twenty  years  after  that  bap- 
tism— in  April,  1607 — on  the  southern  shore  of 
Chesapeake  Bay,  at  a  place  afterward  to  be 
known  to  the  world  as  Jamestown,  the  same 
Church  whose  prayers  had  been  heard  at  Drake's 
Bay  and  Roanoke  was  formally  settled  in  the 
land  as  *' the  Church  of  England  in  the  Colonies." 
That  settlement  was  the  birth  of  the  American 
sister  in  the  family  of  God,  which  thus  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  1607  entered  upon  her  life.  At  Smith- 
field,  Isle  of  Wight  County,  Virginia,  stands  to-day 
the  oldest  church-building  of  our  faith  in  America. 
Old  St.  Luke's  Church,  built  there  in  1632,  and 
rich  in  memorials  of  the  past,  is  v/ith  us  yet. 

As  we  look  around  to-day  in  America,  we  see 
churches  of  many  kinds,  from  that  of  Rome  to 
that  of  the  United  Brethren.  Where  were  they 
then?  With  one  exception,  they  had  either  not 
come  into  existence  at  all,  or  so  recently  that 
they  had  no  strength  to  undertake  work  in  a  new 
field.     The  various  national  churches  of  Europe 


40  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

were,  of  course,  in  existence,  and  anyone  of  them 
might  have  proved  a  rival.  But  the  only  likely 
one  was  the  Spanish.  Spain  and  England  were 
the  two  competitors  for  the  supremacy  of  the  seas. 
But  the  Church  of  Spain  had  ample  work  in  the 
West  Indies  and  on  the  Southern  Continent  to  tax 
all  her  energies ;  and  the  Northern  Continent  fell, 
not  only  rightly,  but  of  necessity,  to  the  spiritual 
care  and  pastoral  oversight  of  her  Anglican  sister. 

The  English  Church  nobly  undertook  the 
charge.  When  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  in  1588,  gave 
xJioo"  for  the  propagation  of  the  Christian  religion 
in  Virginia,"  it  was  an  earnest  of  what  that  Church 
would  do.  It  was  a  true  indication  of  the  spirit 
which  dwelt  within  her.  She  would  do  a  mother's 
part.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  at  once,  on 
the  daughter's  behalf,  called  for  a  general  collec- 
tion throughout  the  churches  in  his  province,  and 
bibles  and  prayer-books,  communion  plate  and 
church  vestments,  money  and  men,  were  forthcom- 
ing in  abundance.  The  Church  gave  of  her  best. 
Everything  augured  well  for  the  future.  Under 
godly,  earnest,  hard-working  clergy,  a  fruitful  har- 
vest seemed  certain. 

But,  sad  to  tell,  after  a  while  heavy  clouds 
surged  up  over  the   horizon,   and    the  light  was 


COMING   OF  AGE   OF  A   NEW   SISTER  41 

darkened  in  the  heavens.  The  Mother  Church 
was  assailed  by  fierce  foes,  and  she  had  to  take 
thought  for  herself.  All  through  the  seventeenth 
century  her  trials  continued,  and  on  under  the 
heavy  German  kings  in  the  eighteenth,  until  she 
reached  the  low-water  mark  of  her  religious  and 
spiritual  life.  Under  such  circumstances,  what 
could  have  been  expected  of  her  daughter  abroad  ? 
The  features  of  the  home-life  were  naturally  re- 
produced. Indifference  set  in,  and  with  it  came 
"  calm  decay."  With  the  dying  out  of  the  old 
race  of  clergy,  others  had  come  who  were  but 
needy  adventurers,  and  the  cause  seemed  lost. 
Like  priest,  like  people.  The  salt  was  losing  its 
savor. 

But  her  greatest  trial  has  not  yet  been  told. 
She  had  not  the  Episcopate.  Imagine  it,  ye  who 
can — an  Episcopal  Church  without  the  Episco- 
pate! At  first,  in  America,  when  there  were 
"  but  a  few  of  them,  and  the}^  strangers  in  the 
land,"  it  did  not  seem  to  matter  so  much  that  the 
nearest  bishop  was  three  thousand  miles  away  ; 
but  afterward,  "  when  they  multiplied  exceed- 
ingly," and  the  years  went  by,  the  evils  of  their 
orphaned  condition  became  more  and  more  visible 
and  more  disastrous.     Every  now  and  then  they 


42  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

would  make  strong  efforts  to  secure  the  Episco- 
pate, but  there  was  always  the  same  result :  no 
bishop  came.  Why  was  this  ?  What  insuperable 
difficulties  interposed  ?  The  ill-fated  alliance  be- 
tween the  Church  and  Caesar  was  responsible  for 
it  all — for  the  strange  spectacle  of  an  Episcopal 
Church  refusing  the  Episcopate  to  her  own  daugh- 
ter. For  the  worldly  honors  of  a  State  Church, 
the  mother  had  parted  with  her  freedom. 

Church  and  State  !  We  link  the  words  together, 
but  the  things  are  far  apart.  Their  union  is  as 
unnatural  as  that  of  June  and  December.  It  is 
forgetfulness  of  Christ's  proclamation  :  "  My  king- 
dom is  not  of  this  world."  It  is  folly.  Every 
attempt  to  unite  the  Church  with  this  world,  or  to 
permit  it  to  lean  upon  the  world,  has  been  attended 
sooner  or  later  with  disaster.  Either  the  Church 
has  suffered,  as  in  France,  or  both  Church  and 
State,  as  in  Italy. 

Yet,  all  the  while,  incomplete  as  was  her  organ, 
ization,  she  was  still  "  the  Church,"  and  men  always 
spoke  of  her  as  such.  Soon,  indeed,  it  would  be 
different.  Darker  days  were  coming  ;  when  even 
the  empty  title  would  be  denied  her.  But  as  yet 
the  worst  had  not  come.  That  was  only  reached 
at  our  Revolution.     Then  the  crash  came,  and  she 


COMING   OF   AGE   OF   A  NEW   SISTER  43 

appeared  in  the  eyes  of  men  no  longer  the  Church 
of  tJieir  land,  but  the  Church  of  another  land,  and 
of  America's  foes.  What,  therefore,  could  they 
do  but  cast  her  out  ?  And  cast  her  out  they  did. 
So  that  she  who  had  been  first  of  all  became  last  \ 
of  all.  Then,  for  a  while,  bitter  hatred  and  per- 
secution followed.  Churchmen  suffered  as  no 
other  Christians  in  this  land  have  ever  suffered, 
until  they  might  well  have  thought  that  the  days 
of  the  Maccabees  had  returned.  True,  it  was 
more  as  Tories  than  as  Churchmen  that  they  suf- 
fered ;  but  they  did  suffer,  all  the  same,  and  that 
for  conscience'  sake.  Hardships,  Avhipping,  im- 
prisonment, confiscation,  banishment,  were  the  lot 
of  many  of  the  clergy,  some  of  whom  died  under 
their  sufferings,  while  their  churches  were  given 
•up  to  the  fury  of  mobs  and  to  devouring  fiames. 
The  ruin  of  the  Church  seemed  complete. 

There  was  destined  to  be  one  trial  more  before 
relief  should  come.  She  was  between  two  stools. 
As  if  she  had  not  suffered  enough,  the  Mother 
Church  across  the  sea,  now  looking  upon  her  no 
longer  as  a  daughter,  cast  her  off.  Thus,  with  all 
supplies  stopped,  and  the  hope  of  gaining  the 
Episcopate  farther  than  ever  away,  was  ever  a 
Church  in  a  worse  plight?     Distrusted  by  those 


44  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

from  whom  she  had  come ;  deprived,  too,  of  the 
means  of  perpetuating  her  own  existence,  and 
scorned  by  those  among  whom  she  dwelt,  her  lot 
was  indeed  hard.  She  had,  like  the  ship  which 
carried  St.  Paul  in  the  stormy  Adriatic,  fallen 
into  a  place  where  two  seas  met,  with  every  pros- 
pect of  being  destroyed  between  them. 

But  the  darkest  hour  is  just  before  dawn.  To 
the  poor,  distracted,  forlorn  Church  help  came  at 
last,  and  that — perhaps  most  naturall}^ — from  a 
Church  which  had  been  tried  like  herself.  Hard 
by  the  state  Church  of  England  there  was  another 
Church,  with  a  lineage  as  pure  as  hers,  and  more- 
over free  from  bondage.  It  was  the  Church  of 
Scotland.  To  this  Church,  when  all  hope  of 
success  elsewhere  had  faded  away,  American 
Churchmen  turned  to  crave  the  blessing  they 
needed  : 

Patriots  informed  with  Apostolic  light 

Were  they,  who,  when  their  country  had  been  freed, 

Bowing  with  reverence  to  the  ancient  creed. 

Fixed  on  the  frame  of  Scotland's  Church  their  sight, 

And  strove  with  filial  love  to  reunite 

What  force  had  severed.     Thence  they  fetched  the  seed 

Of  Christian  unity,  and  won  a  meed 

Of  praise  from  Heaven. 


COMING   OF   AGE   OF   A   NEW   SISTER  45 

At  last  the  tide  had  turned  ;  and  at  Aberdeen,  in 
Scotland,  on  November  14,  1784,  Samuel  Seabury,  ] 
of  Connecticut,  was  made  a  bishop  in  the  Church ' 
of  God.  Thus,  205  years  after  that  service  on  the 
Pacific  Coast,  the  Church  in  America  became  fully 
equipped.  She  was  now  a  Church  with  seed  within 
herself.  That  consecration  was  her  coming  of  age. 
Henceforward  she  needed  help  from  none.  All 
her  bishops,  if  so  she  had  willed,  might  have  de- 
rived valid  consecration  from  Bishop  Seabury 
alone. 

Looking  forward  to  the  future,  the  Church  in 
Maryland  had  met  the  year  before  and  had  organ- 
ized under  the  title  she  still  bears—''  The  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  Church."  But  for  a  little  while  she 
refrained  from  exercising  her  rights.  Three 
more  priests  of  the  American  Church  were  soon 
to  seek  the  Episcopate  abroad.  For  this  Church 
has  ahvays  been  obedient  to  the  ancient  canons, 
VN^hich  provide  that  not  less  than  three  bishops 
shall  take  part  in  every  consecration.  These 
three  priests  were :  William  Vv^hite,  to  be  Bishop 
of  Pennsylvania,  Samuel  Provoost,  to  be  Bishop 
of  New  York,  both  of  whom  were  consecrated  in 
Lambeth  Palace  on  February  4,  1787;  and  James 
Madison,   September    19,   1790,   to  be    Bishop  of 


46  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

Virginia — the  last  American  bishop  to  be  conse- 
crated outside  the  limits  of  the  United  States. 

On  September  17,  1792,  Thomas  John  Claggett 
vv^as  consecrated  in  this  country  to  be  the  first 
Bishop  of  Maryland,  and  to  him  belongs  the 
honor  of  being  the  first  bishop  consecrated  on 
American  soil.  In  him  the  Scotch  and  English 
lines  of  succession  were  united,  all  four  of  the 
American  bishops  joining  together  in  the  service. 
But  even  before  that,  in  the  General  Convention 
which  met  at  Philadelphia  in  1789,  the  scattered 
fragments  of  the  Church  were  brought  together 
and  welded  into  one  harmonious  whole. 

This  was  the  magnificent  consummation  of  past 
struggles.  Phoenix-like,  our  Church  had  arisen 
from  her  ashes,  and  a  glorious  future  began  to 
open  before  her. 

When  Boccaccio's  Jew  returned  from  Rome  he 
asked  for  baptism,  on  the  ground  that  no  Church 
which  was  not  divine  could  survive  such  gross 
corruptions  as  he  had  seen.  In  the  same  way,  if 
men  will  only  read  the  history  of  this  Church  of 
ours,  and  contrast  it  to-day  with  what  it  was 
about  one  hundred  years  ago,  they  may  well  say  : 
*'  This  is  surel}^  a  Church  built  upon  the  founda- 
tions of   the    apostles  and   prophets,   with  Jesus 


COMING   OF  AGE   OF   A   NEW   SISTER  47 

Christ  Himself  as  the  corner-stone  :  this  is  indeed 
a  sister  in  the  Family  of  God.  A  Church  not  di- 
vine could  not  have  survived :  she  must  have  per- 
ished— ay,  and  ought  to  have  perished  !  " 

Think  of  it !  Our  Church  to-day  has  fourscore 
bishops  and  over  4,000  clergy,  and  is  once  more  j 
The  Church.  Of  the  future  we  have  no  fears, 
when  we  remember  how  magnificently  she  has 
come  forth  out  of  the  dangers  and  trials  of  the 
past. 

More  in  detail,  we  may  show  that  its  strength 
at  the  beginning  of  1895  was  as  follows  :  Total 
number  of  clergymen,  4,323  ;  organized  parishes 
and  missions,  4,870  ;  present  number  of  communi- 
cants, 580,507 — an  increase  of  17,429  over  the  pre- 
vious year.  In  the  Sunday-schools  there  are  44,- 
335  teachers  and  400,566  scholars,  Avhile  in  the 
parochial  schools  there  are  619  teachers  and  7,995 
scholars.  During  the  year  there  were  60,317 
baptisms  and  42,385  confirmations.  There  are 
sixty-eight  institutions,  seven  of  which  are  under 
the  direction  of  the  General  Convention,  not  in- 
cluding four  celibate  orders  for  men,  twenty-two 
sisterhoods,  and  five  schools  or  communities  for 
deaconesses. 

But  these  figures  tell  little  of  what  the  Church 


48  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

has  really  been  doing.  It  is  by  reference  to  in- 
dividual dioceses  that  we  can  appreciate  it  better. 
Take,  for  example,  Maine.  It  is  an3'thing  but  a 
favored  diocese :  there  has  been  no  immigration 
to  speak  of;  yet  hear  what  the  present  Bishop 
has  to  say  :  "  I  accepted  and  went  to  Maine,  and 
found  a  diocese  of  but  eighteen  parishes,  only 
seven  of  which  were  self-supporting,  and  having 
in  all  1, 600  communicants."  This  was  28  years 
ago.  That  diocese  has  now  thirty-five  clergy  and 
3,364  communicants.  Behold  how  God  has  pros- 
pered her !  And  not  her  alone.  Similar  advance 
and  increasing  strength  is  the  record  of  all  our 
dioceses. 

"  We  can  best,"  says  a  bishop  ^  still  living, 
speaking  of  the  growth  of  the  whole  Church,  "  ap- 
preciate the  present  by  contrasting  it  with  the 
past.  In  the  year  18 16  the  youngest  Episcopal 
church  in  Rhode  Island  was  ninety-four  3^ears  old, 
not  a  new  parish  having  been  formed  since  the 
year  1722.  At  the  time  of  my  ordination — in  1836 
— we  had  only  763  clergy  and  590  churches."  Thus 
in  one  man's  lifetime  has  our  Church  made  herself 
known  and  felt  throughout  our  whole  land. 

The  old  Church  is  thus  seen  to  be  coming  to 

J  Bishop  Clark. 


COMING   OF   AGE   OF   A   NEW   SISTER  49 

the  front  and  taking  her  rightful  place.     For  she 
was  here  before  the  Constitution  of  1788-89. 

It  is  one  hundred  and  thirty  years  since  Charles 
Mason  and  Jeremiah  Dixon  surveyed  the  land  for 
two  hundred  and  forty^four  miles  west  from  the 
Delaware  River,  and  ran  v^hat  is  now  known  as 
"  Mason  and  Dixon's  Line,"  between  Delaware, 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Virginia,  This  line, 
often  thought  to  be  connected  with  slavery,  was 
in  reality  the  boundary  between  Lord  Baltimore's 
grant  and  the  grant  made  to  William  Penn.  The 
work  was  begun  in  1763,  and  occupied  several 
years.  Through  the  country — here  a  wilderness, 
and  there  rocky  and  mountainous — the  mystic 
line  ran.  At  intervals  of  a  mile,  a  stone  not  un- 
like an  ordinary  milestone  was  set  up.  Every 
fifth  stone  was  a  ''  crown-stone  " — so  called  be- 
cause on  one  side  of  the  stone  was  the  coat-of- 
arms  of  Penn,  and  on  the  other  of  Baltimore.  But 
above  the  arms  of  Baltimore  was  the  coronet  of 
his  nobility.  Long  these  stones  were  hidden  in 
the  brushwood  of  the  forest.     At  last 

"  The  white  man  swung  the  axe 
Beside  them — signal  of  a  mighty  change." 

The  land  was  cleared,  and   the  stones  were  laid 
bare  to  tell  their  own  story.     Then  were  seen  the 


so  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF  FAITH 

arms  of  Penn  and  of  Calvert  surmounted  by  the 
baron's  coronet. 

So  the  old  Church — no  longer  hidden  away — 
stands  in  the  light,  binding  two  nations  into  one 
spiritual  union.  On  the  one  side  are  the  arms  of 
America,  on  the  other  the  arms  of  England,  and 
over  all,  as  a  distinctive  mark,  that  which  sepa- 
rates it  from  those  out  of  the  fold — the  crown  of 
spiritual  nobility. 


IV. 

THE  SISTER  IN  ENGLAND 


IV. 

THE  SISTER  IN  ENGLAND 

"  If  there  be  prophets  on  whose  spirits  rest 
Past  things,  revealed  Hke  future,  they  can  tell 
What  powers,  presiding  o'er  the  sacred  well 
Of  Christian  faith,  this  savage  island  blessed 
With  its  first  bounty.     Wandering  through  the  West, 
Did  holy  Paul  a  while  in  Britain  dwell, 
And  call  the  fountain  forth  by  miracle, 
And  with  dread  signs  the  nascent  stream  invest  ? 
Or  He,  whose  bonds  dropped  off,  whose  prison  doors 
Flew  open,  by  an  Angel's  voice  unbarred  ? 
Or  some  of  humbler  name,  to  these  wild  shores 
Storm-driven  ;  who,  having  seen  the  cup  of  woe 
Pass  from  their  Master,  sojourned  here  to  guard 
The  precious  current  they  had  taught  to  flow?  " 

— Wordsworth. 

These  lines  are  the  conjectures  of  the  poet  as 
he  meditated  on  the  beginnings  of  the  Church  in 
Britain.  Who  first  preached  Christ  there  ?  Was 
St.  Paul  or  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  or  Simon  Zelo- 
tes,  or  Simon  Peter,  James  the  Son  of  Zebedee,  or 


54  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

Aristobulus,  of  whom  St.  Paul  speaks  in  Rom. 
xvi.  10,  Britain's  Evangelist  and  Saint?  We  can- 
not tell;  all  have  been  claimed.  Not,  indeed, 
that  the  British  Christians  are  worse  off  in  this 
respect  than  the  Christians  of  other  Churches. 
Can  they  of  Gaul  and  Spain,  or  even  of  imperial 
Rome  herself,  tell  us  the  true  story  of  the  first 
coming  of  Christian  men  ?  Traditions,  myths, 
legends,  like  the  fairy-tales  which  charm  our  chil- 
dren, those  there  are  in  abundance ;  but  who,  we 
hopelessly  ask  at  this  late  day,  can  separate  the 
chaff  from  the  wheat,  or  assure  us  with  authority 
that  it  is  not  all  chaff  which  the  wind  of  truth  will 
scatter  away  from  the  face  of  the  earth  ?  Some 
day  we  shall  know  ;  for,  "  as  unknov/n,  and  yet 
well  known ;  as  dead,  and  behold,  they  live."  ^ 
Meanwhile  we  can  honor  their  memory,  and  hear 
them,  though  dead,  yet  speak  again.  We  some- 
what wonder  this  has  not  been  done  ;  for  to  do 
honor  to  unknown  benefactors  is  not  a  new  or 
strange  idea.  We  have  but  to  look  around  us  to 
see  such  memorials  everywhere.  There  is  Mary- 
land's tribute  to  her  heroic  dead,  commemorating 
those  who  in  Revolutionary  times  saved  the  Car- 
olinas.      Another  there   is  in  the   little   town  of 

1  ji.  Cor.  6,  g. 


THE   SISTER    IN   ENGLAND  55 

Gettysburg-,  Avhere  during  the  civil  war  200,000 
men  fought  in  a  three  clays'  death-struggle.  The 
black  smoke  of  war  has  rolled  away  forever,  but 
a  silent  witness  to  the  dread  nature  of  the  conflict 
stands  in  the  midst  of  the  slain.  It  is  the  Na- 
tional Memorial  Monument  bearing  this  inscrip- 
tion:  -TO  THE  UNKNOWN  DEAD."  At 
Fredericksburg,  on  the  Rappahannock,  in  Vir- 
ginia, not  one,  but  many  thousand  headstones 
bear  a  like  inscription. 

How  grateful  a  deed  it  would  be,  and  how  in- 
structive, if  the  Church  in  Britain  should  set  up 
stones  for  a  memorial  "  To  her  Unknown  Foun- 
ders," and  call  it  Britain's  tribute  to  the  Saintly 
Dead.  They  are  worthy  of  it.  True  soldiers  of 
the  Cross  were  they,  who,  for  the  honor  of  their 
Lord,  and  for  the  souls  of  men,  fought  their  fight 
and  finished  their  course.  We  say  again  that  we 
wonder  this  has  not  been  done  before.  There 
are  in  some  of  the  old  Parish  Churches  across 
the  Atlantic,  lists  of  all  the  Rectors  who  have 
within  their  venerable  walls  exercised  their  min- 
istry. They  are  set  up, ''  plain  for  ail  folk  to  see." 
The  names  reach  back  to  Norman  times,  and  even 
farther  still,  to  the  times  of  the  Danes  and  Saxons. 
We  know  the  story  they  teach.     They  proclaim 


56  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

the  unbroken  chain — the  historical  continuity — 
which  connects  the  first  of  thr  names  with  the 
last.  That  is  well.  But  a  memorial  raised  by 
the  spiritual  children  of  the  first  builders,  not  of 
this  particular  temple  nor  of  that,  but  of  the  great 
spiritual  temple  of  British  Christianity,  would  be 
better;  it  would  be  the  noblest  memorial  ever 
set  up  in  Britain  ;  and  by  it,  though  dead,  they 
would  speak : 

O  Church  of  our  fathers  in  England, 

O  home  of  the  Living  Lord, 
Full  fountain  of  faith  for  ages. 

And  witness  firm  to  the  Word  ! 
From  Alban,  Augustine,  and  Aidan, 

Paulinus,  and  Cuthbert,  and  Bede, 
To  our  days,  even  ours,  what  armies 

Of  Christ  his  long  triumph  lead  ! 

Saints,  known  to  him  only  in  heaven. 

Or  famed  in  their  own  despite ; 
Or  spending  and  spent  for  others, 

Or  crown'd  with  the  martyr-light ; 
Of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy, 

Who  counted  earth's  riches  as  dross ; 
They  are  resting  in  God's  own  acre, 

Their  bed  'neath  the  Saving  Cross. 


THE   SISTER   IN   ENGLAND  57 

The  sin -defaced  offspring  of  yVdam, 

While  centuries  onward  glide, 
Have  grown  in  the  field  of  England  ; 

The  tares  with  the  wheat  beside  ; 
O  visible  fold  of  the  Shepherd, 

How  oft  in  his  sorrow  surveyed, 
As  the  myriad  snares  of  Satan 

His  cause  have  again  betrayed  ! 

The  history  of  Christianity  in  that  land,  like 
the  history  of  Christianity  everywhere  else,  falls 
into  tv\'0  distinct  periods:  One  extending  from 
the  first  preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  the  formation 
of  a  church  as  the  Church  of  the  land  ;  the  birth 
of  a  sister  in  the  Royal  Family.  The  other  ex- 
tending from  that  time  onward,  a  period  of  sub- 
sequent growth  and  development.  The  first  was 
the  era  of  Missions,  the  beginnings  of  the  Church 
— her  birth  and  infancy  we  have  called  it ; — the 
second,  when,  having  come  of  age,  a  National 
Church  entered  upon  her  mature  and  indepen- 
dent life. 

Now,  what  do  we  actually  know  of  her  birth 
and  earlier  life  ?  We  answer :  Nothing  with  cer- 
tainty. When  we  first  hear  a  witness  speak 
whose  evidence  all  receive,  Christianity  had  won 
its   brightest  triumphs.     This   witness   is  Tertul- 


58  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

lian,  who  makes  the  statement  that  "  even  those 
parts  of  Britain  hitherto  inaccessible  to  Roman 
arms,  had  been  subdued  by  the  Gospel  of  Christ." 
These  words  were  probably  written  just  as  the 
second  century  was  closing.  Origen,  half  a  cen- 
tury later,  writes, ''  the  power  of  God  our  Saviour 
is  even  with  those  in  Britain,  who  are  divided 
from  our  world."  From  this  time  onward  we  be- 
gin to  know  more.  Soon  Britain  has  a  settled 
Episcopate  ;  for  in  a.d.  314  we  find  three  British 
Bishops  sitting  as  members  of  a  Council  meeting 
in  France,  then  called  Gaul.  A  century  later, 
persecutions  arise,  and  pagan  rule  follows  ;  then 
the  dark  page  of  history  becomes  unreadable. 
But  persecuted,  the  infant  Church  is  not  de- 
stroyed ;  cast  down,  she  is  not  forsaken ;  her  can- 
dlestick is  not  removed.  She  lives  on,  for  she  is 
destined  to  become  a  might}^  power  in  the  land  : 
a  true  National  Church  which  the  Lord  founded, 
and  not  man. 

Yet  all  this  was  centuries  before  the  year  597, 
memorable  as  the  year  of  Augustine's  arrival. 
How  perverse  an  error,  then,  that  Britain  received 
her  Christianity  from  Rome,  when  actually,  within 
less  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  where  the  first 
Roman   missionarv  found  a  home,  there  stood  a 


THE   SISTER   IN   ENGLAND  59 

little  church  in  which  worshipped  the  Christian 
Queen  Bertha,  having  for  her  pastor  a  bishop  of 
the  Gallic  Church  !  We  do  not  undervalue  Au- 
gustine's services,  but  we  are  not  willing  to  ex- 
aggerate them.  To  another  even  more  than  to 
himself  do  we  owe  his  coming  at  all  ;  for  it  was 
simple  obedience  to  a  command  of  his  superior 
which  took  him  to  Britain.  In  Gregory  the 
Great,  Augustine  had  a  master  like  that  French 
Bishop  who  said,  "  My  clergy  are  a  regiment ; 
when  I  say,  '  March  ! '  they  march."  Gregory 
bade  Augustine  go  forth  and  preach  the  Gospel 
to  the  kinsmen  of  the  little  boys  whom  he  had 
seen  for  sale  in  Rome,  and  Augustine  went.  To 
his  credit,  he  remained  ;  for  he  might  have  re- 
turned to  tell  that  the  field  was  occupied.  Britain, 
indeed,  was  not  altogether  the  heathen  land  the 
good  Gregory  thought  it.  In  Southern  Britain, 
as  we  have  seen,  a  Gallic  bishop  lived  ;  in  the 
West,  several  bishops,  with  an  archbishop  at  their 
head,  held  possession  of  the  land  ;  in  the  North 
the  Scottish  Church  was  vigorously  pushing  its 
missions  southward.  For  a  century  before  and 
for  two  centuries  after  Augustine's  arrival  the 
old  British  Church  was  sending  forth  missionaries 
to  the  heathen — Killian  to  Bavaria,  Willibrod  to 


6o  IN   THi:   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

the  country  of  the  Franks,  Siegfried  to  Sweden; 
above  all,  Boniface,  from  his  native  Devonshire,  to 
find,  as  the  Apostle  of  Germany,  ample  work  and 
a  martyr's  crown  among  the  German  people. 

Thus  easily  might  Augustine  have  withdrawn 
from  the  work.  But  the  harvest  was  great  and 
the  laborers  fev/,  and  he  remained.  A  true  mis- 
sionary bishop,  he  never  saw  his  home  again. 
Settling  down  almost  within  sight  of  the  sea 
which  washed  the  shores  of  his  beloved  Italy,  he 
preached  Christ  to  the  pagan  invaders  of  that 
part  of  Britain.  He  was  the  first  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury.  As  such  we  honor  him.  But  Can- 
terbury then  meant  only  Kent,  as  the  epitaph  cut 
in  the  stone  under  wdiich  he  slept  abundantly 
proves  :  "  Here  rests  Augustine,  first  Lord  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  who  formerly  directed 
hither  by  the  Blessed  Gregory,  Pontiff  of  the  City 
of  Rome,  and  sustained  by  God  in  the  working  of 
miracles,  brought  over  Kz/ig-  /Edilbcrt  and  Jus  na- 
tion from  the  worship  of  idols  to  the  faith  of 
Christ,  and  having  completed  the  days  of  his  of- 
fice in  peace,  deceased  on  the  seventh  day  of  the 
Kalends  of  June,  in  the  same  King's  reign."  ^ 

Those  wxre,  properly  speaking,  only  the  days 

>  Bcde  ii.,  Chap.  III.,  page  115. 


THE   SISTER   IN   ENGLAND  6 1 

of  mission-work,  when  no  Church  existed.  One 
hundred  years  hence  some  Japanese  ecclesiasti- 
cal historian  may  trace  the  footsteps  of  English  or 
American  or  Roman  missionaries  in  Japan,  but  he 
will  not  speak  of  there  having  been  a  National 
Japanese  Church.  In  a  similar  way  England,  for 
nearly  seven  centuries,  was  the  field  of  several 
missionary  bands,  representing  different  Churches. 
It  was  not  until  these  were  united  together  that 
a  native  Church  was  a  possibility.  When  these 
scattered  forces  were  united,  a  Church  in  Eng- 
land and  of  England  was  the  result,  and  the  first 
period  of  Christian  history  had  run  its  course, 
and  the  second  had  dawned. 

The  second  period  begins  in  the  year  673. 
That  was  a  notable  year  for  England.  Un- 
der Archbishop  Theodore,  Vvdio  had  become  by 
mutual  consent  Primate  of  All  England,  this 
grand  result  was  achieved.  At  a  Council  held  at 
Hertford  all  the  missions  were  united,  and  the 
Church  of  the  Nation  entered  upon  her  separate 
and  independent  existence.  Then  all  divergent 
parties,  all  diverse  customs,  Avere  harmonized. 
That  Council  gave  a  new  Church  to  Christendom. 

In  the  course  of  the  ages  which  followed  she 
has    had  a  checkered  career.     At   one  time   she 


62  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

even  lay  under  the  power  of  the  Papacy  and  be- 
came corrupt  and  ready  to  die.  At  another,  she 
was  the  bond-slave  of  the  State.  Wonderful, 
however,  notwithstanding  all,  has  been  her 
growth.  When  the  Council  of  Hertford  was  held 
there  were  but  five  bishops  and  one  archbishop 
ministering  to  a  few  thousands  of  people.  To- 
day there  are  two  archbishops  and  fifty-four 
bishops  bearing  rule  over  21,000  clergy  and  min- 
istering to  29,000,000  people,  scattered  through- 
out 14,000  parishes.  This  is  a  mighty  change. 
Yet  it  is  not  all.  Wholly  insufficient  will  our 
estimate  be  if  we  do  not  take  into  account  those 
daughter  Churches  in  the  colonies  of  Great  Brit- 
ain which  are  rising  up  and  calling  her  blessed  as 
the  mother  of  them  all. 

More  than  thirteen  hundred  years  have  brought 
their  sweeping  changes  since  Augustine  was  laid 
to  his  rest  as  Bishop  of  the  Kentish  people.  How 
great  those  changes  have  been  the  epitaph  on  the 
tomb  of  Archbishop  Tait  will  show  :  ''  The  one 
great  aim  of  his  life  was  to  make  the  Church  of 
England  more  truly  the  Church  of  the  People." 
The  difference  is  great.  The  one  shoAvs  Au- 
gustine  as   a  Kentish   bishop,  the   other   Archi- 


THE   SISTER   IN   ENGLAND  63 

bald  Campbell  Tait  as  the  Primate  of  All  Eng- 
land. 

After  all,  statistics  tell  but  little.  We  cannot 
measure  the  influence  exerted  by  the  Church. 
She  has  been  as  leaven  which  a  woman  took 
and  hid  in  three  measures  of  meal  till  the  whole 
was  leavened.^  Among  other  influences  we 
mention  one  particularly.  As  individuals  have 
gifts,  so  have  churches.  It  has  been  her  peculiar 
gift  to  mould  the  home-life  of  her  people  as  no 
other  Church  has  ever  done.  Great  as  her  in- 
fluence has  been  elsewhere,  it  has  been  greatest 
in  the  home-circle.  TJicre  has  been  her  throne. 
She  is  emphatically  a  Church  of  the  hearthstone, 
training  whole  households  in  the  fear  of  the 
Lord.  And  this  has  been  directly  the  result  of 
her  system.  Her  clergy,  unlike  the  clergy  of 
most  of  the  National  Churches  of  Europe,  have 
been,  as  husbands  and  fathers,  capable  of  becom- 
ing, with  their  families,  wholesome  examples 
and  patterns  to  the  flock  of  Christ.  The  lovely 
sight  of  families  dwelling  together  in  unity,  knit 
in  sweetest  bonds  of  love,  which  forms  no  incon- 
siderable part  of  the  charm  of  English  social 
life,  has  largely  drawn  its   inspiration  from  the 

iMatt.  xiii.  33. 


64  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

family  life  at  the  rectory  or  vicarage.  Here,  most 
of  all,  is  her  wisdom  manifest.  They  who,  as 
God's  embassadors,  have  spoken  to  Englishmen 
for  generations  past  of  holy  living  and  holy  dying, 
have  not  been  celibates  or  anchorites ;  they  who 
have  been  called  to  comfort  the  bereaved  of  wife 
or  child  have  been  the  better  able  to  enter  into 
the  heart-sorrows  of  their  people,  for  the}^  them- 
selves, in  like  manner,  have  been  tried.  Here 
has  been  one  source  of  her  great  power.  She  has 
been  a  Church  of  the  people  and  for  the  people 
— in  the  truest  sense  a  National  Church. 

With  the  best  educated  men  in  Europe  as  her 
clergy — Anglicanus  cicrus  stupor  vinndi — (the  An- 
glican Clerg3^man  the  wonder  of  the  world),  as  the 
phrase  went  in  the  time  of  Charles  H.,  when  divines 
from  the  continent  flocked  to  England  to  learn  the 
art  of  preaching,  it  is  reasonable  that  she  should 
commend  herself  to  an  educated  people.  The  high- 
est hail  her  as  Mother,  yet  she  is  mindful  of  the 
lowest.  At  this  moment  she  is  educating  a  mill- 
ion more  of  the  children  of  the  poor  in  her  schools 
than  the  State  itself!  Where  is  there  another 
Church  with  such  a  record  ?     We  can  find  none. 

This  is  no  panegyric  on  that  Church.  We  are 
not  blind  to  her  faults.     We  name  one  she  has 


THE   SISTER   IN   ENGLAND  65 

arising  out  of  her  very  strength,  out  of  her  con- 
servatism, and  it  is  this ;  an  unwillingness  to  de- 
part out  of  old  paths  and  to  seize  new  ideas.  She 
has  never  in  the  past  known  exactly  what  to  do 
with  enthusiasm.  Because  of  this  she  lost  Wesley 
and  the  Methodists ;  because  of  this  she  was  not 
the  church  of  Milton  and  Bunyan,  of  George  Fox 
and  Richard  Baxter.  But  she  is  wiser  now,  and 
conservative  though  she  remains,  she  gives  her 
benediction  to  all  who  loyally  give  her  their  help. 
But  Avhatever  else  we  may  say,  whatever  else 
we  may  think,  this  one  fact  will,  we  believe,  be 
clear  :  This  Church  is  not  new,  but  old  ;  a  Church 
for  whose  origin  we  look  into  the  dim  and  misty 
past.  Some  things,  we  admit,  are  none  the  better 
for  being  old.  We  do  not  prize  our  shoes  or  our 
clothing  the  more  because  they  are  old.  Old 
bridges,  old  boats,  old  machinery,  have  no  special 
charms  for  us.  But  in  some  cases  we  do  value 
the  old  more  than  the  new.  Old  friends  are  to 
be  preferred  to  new  ones.  The  nev/  may  prove 
just  as  helpful,  just  as  valuable,  just  as  reliable. 
But  we  do  not  knoiu  that  they  will.  They  are 
like  Saul's  armor  in  David's  hands  :  they  are  not 
proved.  So  also  we  prefer  an  old  Church.  A 
new  one  may  be  perfectly  safe,  but  we  do  not 
5 


66  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

know  it,  and  in  this  matter  we  wish  for  certainty. 
We  have  been  at  pains  to  show  that  the  Church 
across  the  seas,  at  one  time  our  Mother,  and  since 
our  Sister,  was  not  a  creation  of  Parliament,  either 
in  the  sixteenth  century  or  at  any  other  time. 
Our  Church  here  springs  from  the  same  stock. 
Thus  it  is  that  freely  bishops  and  clerg}^  pass  over 
to  England  and  take  an  official  part  in  the  ser- 
vices of  the  cathedrals  and  churches  there.  So, 
too,  the  clergy  of  that  church  come  here  and  are 
at  once  recognized  as  brethren.  We  know  no 
difference.  We  believe  in  the  fellowship  of  saints. 
In  Christ  we  are  all  united.  With  perfect  inde- 
pendence of  action,  each  Church  is  free  to  act  for 
herself.  But  a  deep  bond  of  sympathy,  deeper 
than  sentiment,  and  cordial  respect  links  us  to- 
gether. We  are  brethren  in  the  Lord  ;  members 
of  the  same  Church,  partakers  of  the  same  holy 
calling.  We  extend  our  hands  across  the  waste 
of  waters  and  exchange  our  greetings,  and  we 
recognize  in  those  who  throng  her  ancient  temples 
of  prayer,  fellow-v/orkers  in  the  same  spiritual 
temple  we  are  building  here.  They  are  engaged 
on  one  part  of  the  wall,  we  on  another.  They 
and  we  arc  alike  members  of  the  great  family  of 
God,  children  in  the  Household  of  Faith. 


V. 

THE  SISTER   IN   SCOTLAND 


V. 

THE   SISTER   IN   SCOTLAND 

"  They've  robbed  thee  of  thine  altars, 

They've  ta'en  thine  ancient  name  ; 

But  thou'rt  the  Church  of  Scotland 

Till  Scotland  melts  in  flame." 

— COXE. 

The  indictment  is  a  heavy  one ;  would  that  it 
were  not  true.  Doubtless  the  Presbyterian  body, 
which  has  possession  of  what  was  once  the  patri- 
mony of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  believes  herself 
honestly  entitled  to  it.  We  are  indeed  sure  that 
the  many  thousands  of  good  men  in  that  com- 
munion would  not  remain  her  members  if  they 
did  not  share  this  belief.  Though  by  civil  law 
the  Presbyterian  body  is  called  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  she  is  not  Scotland's  ancient  Church  ; 
not  the  Church  of  the  saintly  heroes  of  early 
days ;  of  Columba,  Mungo,  and  Ninian,  those 
three  mighty  men,  who  broke  through  the  heath- 
en   hosts    and    preached    the   truth   in    Scotland, 


70  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

when  Scotland  lay  in  pagan  darkness,  as  of  old 
David's  three  mighty  ones  broke  through  the 
ranks  of  the  Philistines. 

How  came  the  Church  of  Scotland  thus  to  lose 
her  place  and  name  ?  Rightly  or  wrongly,  wisely 
or  unwisely,  her  bishops  clung  to  the  falling  for- 
tunes of  the  house  of  Stuart  and  refused  allegiance 
to  William  of  Orange.  William  never  forgave 
them,  but  at  once  sought  the  ruin  of  their  Church. 
A  servile  Parliament  empowered  him  to  form  a 
new  Church  on  a  basis  ''  most  agreeable  to  the  in- 
clinations of  the  people."  A  strange  foundation 
this  for  any  Church :  the  inclinations  of  the  people ! 

In  civil  government  the  people  can  rightly  say, 
and  they  only,  whether  they  will  live  under  a 
monarchical  form  of  government  or  under  a  re- 
publican. But  it  is  not  so  in  Church  affairs.  Men 
may  no  more  change  with  impunity  the  God- 
given  Constitution  of  the  Church  than  they  may 
alter  that  letter  of  Scripture  of  v/hich  it  is  written  : 
'•'  If  any  man  shall  take  away  from  the  words  of 
the  book  of  this  prophecy,  God  shall  take  away 
his  part  out  of  the  book  of  life,  and  out  of  the 
holy  city,  and  from  the  things  which  are  written 
in  this  book."  ^     The  power  and  authority  to  do 

1  Rev.  xxii.  19. 


THE   SISTER   IN   SCOTLAND  7 1 

this  had  never  been  so  definitely  asserted  before. 
It  was  indeed  a  new  thing  for  a  legislative  body 
to  commission  its  Chief  Magistrate  to  originate  a 
Church,  and  a  bolder  man  than  William  might 
well  have  shrunk  back  from  the  task. 

For  the  beginning  of  the  Church  in  Scotland 
we  must  look  to  the  time  when  the  Druids  held 
sway  and  celebrated  in  the  dark  recesses  of  the 
forests,  which  still  fling  their  black  shadows 
abroad,  their  grim  rites  to  the  terrible  Woden, 
the  god  of  War.  In  those  days  Picts  and  Scots, 
unconquered  by  Rome's  legions,  held  Scotland, 
which  then  bore  its  ancient  name  of  Caledonia. 

Picts  and  Scots !  These  seem  to  have  been 
not  two  nations,  but  several;  differing  v/idely 
from  one  another,  and  yet  all  alike  members  of 
one  great  Celtic  family.  Picts,  Scots,  and  Britons, 
they  were  all  essentially  of  the  same  race.  Yet 
kinsmen  though  they  were,  the  Picts  sweeping 
out  of  their  mountain  fastnesses  were  continually 
harrying  the  Britons  to  death  and  spreading  ruin 
and  disaster  in  the  southern  land.  As  the  early 
settlers  in  this  country  were  ever  in  danger  of  an 
Indian  massacre,  so  it  was  in  Britain.  There 
would  be  a  rush,  a  fierce  struggle,  a  scene  of 
death,   the  glare  of  burning  buildings,   and  the 


T2  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OY   FAITH 

bands  of  the  Picts  had  gone,  taking  their  captives 
and  all  they  could  lay  their  hands  on.  The  sirnile 
is  closer  yet :  The  Picts  were  pagans,  the  Britons 
Christians. 

In  Campbell's  poem  of  ''  Reidlura "  the  poet 
sees  in  a  Christian  temple  standing,  we  may  pre- 
sume, "  \vhere  inaccessible  to  Roman  arms  the 
land  had  been  subdued  to  Christ," 

"  the  statue  of  an  ancient  saint ! 
Fair  sculptured  was  the  stone, 
It  bore  a  crucifix  ; 
Fame  said  it  once  had  graced 
A  Christian  temple,  which  the  Picts 
In  the  Britons'  land  laid  waste." 

Who  first  preached  Christ  to  the  Picts  and 
Scots?  Were  they  from  beyond  the  seas,  as  were 
the  first  teachers  of  Britain,  or  lived  they  nearer 
home  ?  There  is  a  story  often  told  and  partly  be- 
lieved, not  unlike  Britain's  tradition  of  the  visit 
to  her  shore  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  which  tells 
that  in  the  time  of  Constantius,  the  son  of  Con- 
stantine  the  Great,  a  certain  saint  named  Regulus, 
bidden  by  an  angel,  set  sail  from  Patras  in  Achaia, 
where  the  Apostle  S.  Andrew  had  suffered  mar- 
tyrdom, bearing  v/ith  him  to  a  place  of  safety  part 


THE   SISTER   IN   SCOTLAND  73 

of  the  relics  of  the  saint.  Two  years  was  Regu- 
lus,  with  his  precious  charge,  storm-tossed  over 
the  seas,  till  he  was  wrecked  on  the  Scottish  shore, 
near  where  the  city  of  St.  Andrews  stands.  The 
story  of  Regulus  and  the  story  of  Joseph  of  Ari- 
mathea  may  well  stand  or  fall  together ;  yet  it  is 
a  curious  fact  that  from  the  earliest  time  S.  An- 
dre\v  has  been  Scotland's  patron  saint. 

But  legends  give  only  a  glimmering  and  de- 
ceptive light.  Fortunately  we  have  something 
better,  something  more  tangible.  The  earliest 
Christian  m.emorials  ever  found  in  any  part  of  the 
British  Isles  are  certain  monumental  stones  in 
Wigtonshire  in  the  lowlands  of  Scotland.  They 
are  undoubtedly  of  the  era  of  Roman  British 
Christianity.  The  Latin  inscription  on  one  of  them 
shows  it  to  be  a  monument  marking  the  graves  of 
two  priests.  "  Here  lie  " — so  runs  the  epitaph — 
"  holy  and  eminent  priests,  namely,  Viventius  and 
Mavorius."  Gazing  on  those  memorable  stones, 
we  the  readier  believe  the  story  which  tells  us  that 
in  the  Diocletian  persecution  two  Christians,  Mar- 
cus and  Dionysius,  fied  northward  until  they 
reached  the  land  of  the  Picts,  among  whom,  as 
the  pioneers  of  Christianity,  they  were  the  first  to 
turn  their  pagan  kinsmen  from  darkness  to  light. 


74  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

and  from  the  bondage  of  Satan  unto  the  grace  of 
God. 

Beyond  the  wall  of  Antoninus  on  the  north, 
which  separated  Caledonia  from  Britain,  many 
hundreds  of  fugitive  Christians,  in  that  fearful 
hour  of  trial,  may  well  have  found  a  home.  No 
Roman  Emperor's  edicts  were  respected  there. 
That  they  were  fugitives  from  Roman  tyranny 
was  enough  to  insure  them  a  cordial  welcome, 
for  the  Picts  hated  the  very  name  of  Rome.  Can 
we  believe  that  in  their  new  home  such  refugees 
refrained  from  speaking  of  Christ  ?  They  owed 
it  to  the  heathen,  to  themselves,  and  to  their 
Lord  to  preach  the  word  of  God  ! 

In  this  way,  indeed,  if  in  no  other,  might  the 
Gospel  have  spread.  We  know  that  the  persecu- 
tions after  the  death  of  Stephen,  the  first  martyr, 
resulted  in  the  Christians  being  dispersed  abroad. 
Thus  ever  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  has  been 
the  seed  of  the  Church.  Perhaps,  too,  the  very 
slaves  of  the  Picts  had  led  their  heathen  masters 
to  think  kindly  of  Christians,  and  so  prepare 
them  for  accepting  Christianity  when  the  time 
should  come  to  choose  between  Christ  and  Wo- 
den. 

It  is  not,  liowever,  until  the  fourth  century  that 


THE   SISTER   IN   SCOTLAND  75 

we  meet  with  undoubtedly  authentic  history. 
Then  as  through  a  rift  in  the  clouds  we  see  the 
name  of  Ninian  writ  in  letters  of  gold.  Ninian 
was  a  Briton,  who,  having  been  born  about  the 
year  360,  of  Christian  parents,  early  devoted  his 
life  to  the  ofood  of  his  fellow-men.  Durins;'  a  visit 
to  Rome,  which  he  paid  much  as  an  Indian  would 
visit  Washington  or  New  York  nowadays,  he 
had  been  consecrated  a  bishop,  and  on  his  re- 
turn had  founded  a  church  and  monastery.  His 
work  as  bishop  took  him  over  an  immense  field. 
From  the  groves  at  the  foot  of  the  Grampian 
Hills,  where  the  last  of  the  Druids  was  slain,  his 
diocese  extended  to  Cumberland  in  the  south. 
At  the  extreme  limit  northward — at  Dumbarton 
— where  the  Roman  wall  terminates  on  its  west 
side,  the  great  Patrick  was  in  all  probability 
born,  and  Ninian  was  his  teacher  and  father  in 
God.  Just  twenty  years  after,  in  the  year  432, 
the  very  year  when  Patrick  landed  on  Irish  soil 
as  the  missionary  of  the  old  British  Church  to 
Ireland,  Ninian  died.  The  outlook  was  a  sad  one 
when  he  passed  away.  The  Roman  legions  had 
been  withdrawn  in  410.  In  Southern  Britain 
soon  afterward  the  Angles  came  to  harry  the 
land  with  battle-axe  and  fire  ;  in  Northern  Britain 


"j^  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

the  Picts  again  swept  over  the  land.  Many 
Christians  apostatized,  and  the  century  that  fol- 
lowed Ninian's  death  was  as  if  the  sun  had  been 
darkened  and  the  moon  turned  into  blood.  The 
powers  of  darkness  seemed  to  have  uninter- 
rupted sway.  At  the  end  of  that  time  however 
we  find  a  man  at  work  whose  name  of  INIungo  all 
Scotland  reverences  to-day.  Building  up  the 
waste  places,  strengthening  the  things  which 
remained  which  were  ready  to  die,  S.  Mungo 
appears  as  the  restorer  of  the  paths  to  dwell  in.^ 
The  desolation  in  the  interval  between  him  and 
Ninian  is  best  seen  in  this  ;  that  though  Ninian 
had  consecrated  many  bishops  not  one  was  left 
in  the  land.  When  Mungo  sought  consecration 
it  was  from  Ireland,  where  Patrick's  labors  had 
been  so  signally  blessed. 

In  the  closing  years  of  S.  Mungo's  life  there 
appeared  the  third  and  greatest  of  Scotland's 
Triumvirate:  the  Irish -born  S.  Columba,  the 
Apostle  of  the  Northern  Picts.  Columba,  in- 
deed, stands  pre-eminent,  and  we  know  him  well. 
Round  about  the  names  of  Ninian  and  Mungo 
the  mists  of  uncertainty  linger.  But  here  there 
is  not  a  speck  in  all  the  great   heaven   of  blue. 

1  Isaiah  Iviii.  12. 


THE   SISTER   IN   SCOTLAND  77 

Columba  is  of  the  blood  ro3^al,  and  like  another 
Prince  Gaudama,  for  the  good  of  his  fellow-men, 
turns  his  back  upon  kingly  rule  and  the  palaces 
of  the  great.  Leaving  Ireland  in  563  forever,  he 
lands  on  the  bleak  and  lonely  island,  about  three 
miles  long,  now  called  lona,  to  live  for  thirty -five 
years,  and  there  to  die.  Never  a  bishop,  he 
ruled  as  priest,  with  a  mighty  influence  for  good, 
the  monastery  of  which  he  was  the  Abbot  and 
founder.  From  that  monastery  missionaries 
went  forth  to  Britain,  France,  Switzerland,  Ger- 
many, and  even  as  far  as  Ital}-.  Even  Rome  her- 
self sent  youths  to  be  educated  there.  Charle- 
magne sought  professors  there  for  his  newly 
founded  University  of  Paris.  lona  was  in  truth 
holy  and  classic  ground.  All  that  iNlecca  is  to 
the  Mohammedan,  Benares  to  the  Hindu,  Jerusa- 
lem to  Jew  and  Gentile,  that  lona  had  become 
to  the  whole  of  Western  Christendom.  Had  all 
the  twelve  Apostles  rested  there,  the  reverence 
paid  could  not  have  been  greater.  Coiumba's 
prophecy  was  fulfilled  to  the  letter. 

Seven  generations  of  monks  lived  their  lives  in 
this  famous  monastery,  plain,  simple  men,  some 
of  them  bishops,  but  the  head  of  the  Order  was 
ever  a  Pi-esbyter  only,  out  of  respect  for  Columba 


78  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

their  great  founder,  who  was  never  raised  to  the 
episcopate,  in  days  and  in  a  Church  when  the 
episcopate  meant  not  so  much  work  and  a  dio- 
cese, as  a  degree  in  the  Church  of  God,  bestowed 
as  a  reward  for,  or  recognition  of,  singular  merit 
and  unblemished  holiness  of  life. 

In  the  midst  of  an  honorable  and  useful  career 
it  was  suddenly  to  be  cut  off.  lona  was  not  to 
suffer  that  decline  in  faith  and  morals  which 
seemed  to  be  the  fate  of  all  monastic  institutions 
in  the  Middle  Ages.  In  802,  about  five  years 
after  the  ruin  of  Lindisfarne  in  Britain,  the  Danes 
sacked  and  burned  the  home  of  the  brethren. 
Undiscouraged  they  built  another  house,  stronger 
and  better  than  the  first  ;  but  that,  too,  was 
doomed.  Again  the  Danes  came,  slew  the  Abbot 
before  the  altar,  and  left  not  one  stone  of  the 
monaster}^  upon  another. 

"  They  lighted  the  islands  with  ruin's  torch 
And  the  holy  men  of  lona's  church 
In  the  temple  of  God  lay  slain." 

From  that  blow  lona  never  recovered.  Her 
glory  had  departed,  her  house  was  left  desolate. 
Soon  afterward,  in  836,  Kenneth  McAlpine  arose 
as   King  in  Scotland,  under  whose  rule,  in  843, 


THE   SISTER   IN    SCOTLAND  79 

the  Scottish  and  Pictish  Kingdoms  were  united. 
There,  in  a  Church  which  he  built  at  Dunkeld  in 
memory  of  Cokniiba,  the  relics  of  the  saint  were 
placed.  Then  the  Roman  influence  suddenly  ap- 
peared upon  the  scene.  Another  era  had  visibly 
dawned. 

For  six  centuries  onward  the  history  of  that 
Scottish  Church  is  but  the  history  of  other  Na- 
tional Churches  in  the  West ;  it  is  the  story  of 
rise,  decline,  and  fall.  The  Columban  Church 
had  always  been  free  and  independent.  But 
she  died  out  before  her  powerful  rival.  That 
rival,  a  Scottish  Church  under  Roman  influence, 
became  more  fully  identified  with  the  papacy  than 
any  other  church  in  the  British  Islands.  When 
even  the  Church  of  Ireland  was  unshackled  and 
free  she  was  Rome's  vassal. 

With  primitive  faith  gone,  with  unmeaning 
ceremonies  imported  from  abroad,  with  national 
characteristics  effaced,  the  result  might  have  been 
foreseen  ;  nor  was  any  prophet  needed.  Alliance 
with  Rome  meant  separation  from  the  true  faith 
once  delivered  to  the  Saints.  When  the  salt  had 
lost  its  savor,  who  can  wonder  that  corruption 
followed  and  the  people  cried  out  for  Reform  ? 
That   cry    rang   through    Scotland.      Was   there 


8o  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF    FAITH 

not  a  cause?  Her  state  was  worst  of  all  the 
churches  in  the  west,  save  that  in  Scandinavia. 
Preaching  lately  in  his  cathedral  on  the  subject 
of  unity,  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Baltimore 
contended  that  the  reformers  ought  first  to  have 
tried  to  reform  the  Church  from  within ;  but 
that  "  when  the  city  of  God  was  set  on  fire 
by  the  passions  of  men,  instead  of  helping  to  put 
out  the  flames  they  fled  from  the  city  and  re- 
turned to  increase  the  conflagration — to  add  to 
the  confusion."  He  was  right.  In  England  alone 
of  all  Christendom  they  stood  fast,  and  there  the 
Church  stands  grandly  forth  to-day  ;  but  in  Scot- 
land, German}^,  and  elsewhere  they  did  it  not. 
''  Burn  the  nests,"  shouted  John  Knox,  "  and  the 
rooks  will  flee  away."  It  was  fearful  advice  to 
give,  but  literally  was  it  followed.  From  the 
fires  he  kindled  the  flames  spread  until  abbeys, 
churches,  precious  documents,  priceless  libraries, 
were  all  alike  reduced  to  ashes.  In  1560  the 
revolution  was  at  its  height.  When  it  had  run 
its  course,  the  Prayer-book  had  disappeared  and 
there  was  not  a  bishop  left.  The  Roman  Church 
was  blotted  out  in  Scotland ;  for  one  hundred 
years  thereafter  there  was  no  Scoto-Roman 
Bishop.      Extraordinary    to   say,   Rome   suffered 


THE   SISTER   IN   SCOTLAND  Si 

her  old  succession  to  die  out  without  making  an 
effort  to  replace  it. 

Twice  was  the  sacred  line  of  the  Episcopate 
sought  and  obtained;  twice  from  Canterbury, 
not  Rome.  The  Church  thus  restored,  at  one 
time  held  in  honor,  at  another  cast  out  and 
trampled  under  foot,  yet  grew  mightily.  When 
William  landed  in  England  there  were  fourteen 
bishops  and  one  thousand  clergy  in  Scotland; 
and  had  it  not  been  for  the  fatal  error  of  her 
bishops  in  standing  by  the  fallen  house  of  Stuart, 
the  true  Church  of  Scotland  might  to-day  be  the 
Church  in  which  all  the  Scottish  people  should 
find  their  happiness  and  their  only  true  home. 

We  do  not  want  to  reopen  closed  wounds.  But 
Churchmen  in  Scotland  can  never  forget  that  for 
one  hundred  3^ears  they  were  oppressed  by  law, 
and  persecuted  to  death  ;  that  their  Church 
buildings  were  burnt  or  torn  down  and  their 
public  services  forbidden.  More  than  four  per- 
sons besides  the  family  were  not  permitted  to 
meet  for  divine  service  in  any  house  ;  the  penalty 
incurred  by  the  officiating  priest  for  disregard 
of  this  prohibition  for  the  first  offence  was  six 
months'  imprisonment ;  for  the  second,  transpor- 
tation for  life.     It  was  a  crime  to  baptize  an  in- 


82  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

fant  or  to  say  a  collect  from  the  Prayer-book 
During  this  Maccabean  period  of  the  Scotch 
Church  her  fourteen  bishops  dwindled  down  to 
four,  and  her  one  thousand  clergy  to  but  forty. 
Think  of  it!  In  one  century  ten  bishoprics  and 
nearly  one  thousand  •  Protestant  clergy  were  ob- 
literated ;  and  that  under  a  distinctly  Protestant 
government. 

In  1792  these  laws,  as  oppressiv^e  and  barbar- 
ous as  they  were  unjustifiable,  were  repealed,  and 
since  then  our  Church  has  grown  steadily  in 
Scotland.  She  has  now  seven  Bishops  and  two 
hundred  and  sixty-three  Clergy  in  that  country. 
But  it  is  only  within  the  last  few  years  that 
statutes  as  disgraceful  concerning  her  have  been 
repealed  in  England.  The  Church  of  England 
had  been  forced  by  the  State  into  refusing  per- 
mission to  Scotch  ordained  Clergy  to  officiate  at 
her  altars.  So  rigorous  and  far-reaching  was  this 
law  that  no  one  ordained  by  a  Scotch  bishop 
could  ever  hold  office  in  England  !  The  priest 
ordained  in  any  of  the  English  colonies,  in  the 
American  Church,  in  the  Irish,  yea,  even  in  the 
Roman,  if  he  would  but  abjure  his  errors  and 
subscribe  to  the  standards,  could  be  admitted  to 
the  rectorship   of  an  English  parish,  or  become 


THE   SISTER  IN   SCOTLAND  83 

bishop  of  an  English  Diocese,  but  one  ordained 
in  Scotland  never.  That  law  is  blotted  out  now. 
But  even  to  this  day  it  is  quite  possible  to  find 
one  here  and  there  in  England  who,  although  a 
member  of  the  English  Church,  is  not  ashamed 
to  weaken  the  hands  of  his  brethren  in  Scotland 
by  turning  his  back  on  their  churches  and  wor- 
shipping in  the  kirks  of  the  Establishment  ^yhich 
has  dispossessed  them ! 

We  believe  a  grand  future  is  before  our  Church 
in  Scotland.  She  has  passed  through  the  disci- 
pline of  suffering,  and  she  is  the  stronger  for  it. 
Had  it  not  been  for  her  sufferings  who  can  tell 
whether  we  of  the  American  Church  would  ever 
have  obtained  the  Episcopate?  Seabury's  appli- 
cation was  denied  again  and  again  in  England. 
For  more  than  a  whole  year  that  grand  man 
sought  there  in  vain.  When  he  turned  to  our 
Church  in  Scotland,  the  boon  he  craved  was  not 
denied  him.  American  Churchmen  ought  never 
to  forget  this.  Wherever  indeed  this  American 
Church's  history  shall  be  made  known  in  all  the 
world,  there  shall  also  this,  that  the  Bishops  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland  did  for  her,  be  told  for  a 
memorial  of  them. 

Not  that  the  Episcopate  is  all  we  owe.      She 


84  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

also  gave  us  our  Altar  Service.  That  from  the 
spoiler  she  had  saved,  so  that  when  her  Bishops 
were  about  to  lay  hands  on  our  Bishop  Seabury, 
they  placed  this  burden  upon  him  that  he  should 
carry  to  the  Church  across  the  seas,  of  which  he 
was  to  be  the  first  bishop,  her  own  pure  liturgical 
service.  For  this  double  gift  we  hail  that  Church 
in  Scotland  as  indeed  to  us  a  true  "  Mother  in 
Israel." 

It  has  been  sometimes  thought  that  the  English 
Church  and  the  Scotch  Church  are  one.  They 
are,  in  the  same  sense  that  the  American  and  the 
English  are  one,  but  in  no  other.  The  Scotch 
Church  is  as  independent  as  our  own.  Without 
an  archbishop  until  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth 
century  she  differed  from  every  other  Church  in 
Europe.  Her  twelve  dioceses  of  Caithness, 
Ross,  Moray,  Aberdeen,  Brechin,  Dunkeld,  Dun- 
blane, St.  Andrew's,  Arg3de,  The  Isles,  Glas- 
gow, and  Galloway  were  under  no  Metropolitan. 
When  an  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrevv''s  was  cre- 
ated, he  came  as  part  of  the  paraphernalia  of  a 
Romanized  Church.  With  the  disappearance  of 
Roman  rule,  he  also  disappeared. 

At  this  day  Scotland  has  no  archbishop.  The 
bishops  choose    one  of  their  number  as   primus. 


THE   SISTER   IN   SCOTLAND  85 

He  acts  as  chairman  at  their  meetings,  and  is 
usually  their  representative  and  spokesman ;  but 
he  has  no  metropolitan  authority,  and  while  he 
has  the  right  to  receive  certain  appeals  and  pos- 
sesses under  the  canons  certain  other  prerogatives 
over  his  fellow  bishops,  the  highest  judicial  author- 
ity is  the  Episcopal  College,  composed  of  all  the 
bishops;  the  bishops  themselves  being  appointed 
as  ours  are.  They  are  chosen,  that  is  to  say,  by 
the  clergy  of  the  diocese  and  by  representatives 
of  the  lay  communicants,  a  majority  of  both 
orders  being  necessary  to  a  valid  election,  but 
the  clergy  only  have  the  right  to  nominate.  The 
highest  legislative  body  is  the  Provincial  Synod, 
formed  of  two  Houses,  one  of  the  bishops,  the 
other  of  the  deans  and  representatives  of  the 
clergy. 

Dwelling  among  Presbyterians,  it  is  natural 
that  she  should  have  been  led  to  insist  much  upon 
the  Episcopal  Order  as  part  of  the  Church's  Con- 
stitution, and  to  be  zealous  for  a  liturgical  service. 
It  was  indeed  inevitable  that  these  should  come 
into  prominence,  and  the  result  has  been  that, 
falling  back  upon  her  Divine  birth  and  nature, 
and  on  the  traditions  of  a  Catholic  past,  she  has 
been  attractinjr  an  increasinsf  amount  of  attention. 


86  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

Still,  although  among  the  gentry  she  is  a  power, 
and  fairly  strong  with  the  professional  classes  as 
well  as  among  the  poor  of  the  large  towns,  the 
bulk  of  Scottish  people  are  still  Presbyterian. 
Small  though  she  be,  she  is  yet  strong  and  vig- 
orous, and  we  may  well  believe  her  to  be  the 
leaven  that  is  to  work  till  the  whole  be  leavened 
agrain. 


VT. 

THE   SISTER   IN   IRELAND 


VI. 

THE   SISTER   IN   IRELAND 

"  Thy  rival  was  honored,  whilst  thou  wert  wronged  and  scorned, 
Thy  crown  was  of  briars,  while  gold  her  brows  adorned ; 
She  wooed  me  to  temples,  whilst  thou  layest  hid  in  caves, 
Her  friends  were  all  masters,  while  thine,  alas  !  were  slaves ; 
Yet  cold  in  the  earth,  at  thy  feet,  I  would  rather  be. 
Than  wed  what  I  love  not,  or  turn  one  thought  from  thee." 
— iViooRE  :  "  The  Ancient  Church  of  Ireland." 

From  the  shores  of  Scotland  on  a  clear  day  the 
blue  line  of  the  Irish  coast  can  be  distinctly  seen. 
The  earliest  inhabitants,  both  of  Scotland  and 
Britain,  who  first  looked  out  on  that  coast-line, 
would  not  have  been  true  to  their  human  nature 
unless  they  had  sought  to  know  something  of  that 
western  isle.  Nor  would  they,  if  Christians,  have 
been  true  to  their  Master's  teachings  unless  they 
had  sought  some  way  of  imparting  to  its  people 
the  knowledge  of  the  truths  they  themselves  pos- 
sessed. 

Of  the   names  of  those  who  first  responded  to 


90  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

this  call  there  is  not  even  a  tradition  left.  St. 
John  the  Divine  has  indeed  been  claimed  as  the 
one  to  whom  the  earliest  Christians  in  Ireland  owe 
their  baptism,  but  that  not  personally,  only  medi- 
ately through  those  who  followed  the  ''  disciple 
whom  Jesus  loved."  We,  however,  need  no  keen 
insight,  no  mind  peculiarly  adapted  to  weighing 
evidence,  no  prophetic  vision,  no  providential 
guidance,  to  assure  us  that  the  first  preachers  in 
Ireland  were  natives  of  Britain.  No  need  was 
there  for  missionaries  to  visit  Ireland  from  the 
distant  East.  When  once  the  Gospel  had  touched 
British  soil,  those  who  had  freely  received  might 
be  trusted  to  freely  give. 

When,  however,  the  Divine  message  of  peace 
and  good  -  will  to  men  which  angels  first  pro- 
claimed came  to  her  shores,  Ireland  had  long  been 
an  inhabited  country.  The  Irish,  indeed,  boast  of 
the  antiquity  of  their  race,  and  justly,  if  what  they 
claim  be  true.  The  country,  v/e  are  assured,  was 
colonized  before  the  Flood  !  Close  by  the  Tower 
of  Babel,  we  are  told,  one  Milesius,  taught  both 
Hebrew  and  Irish.  It  was  this  Milesius  who, 
afterward  moving  with  his  family  into  Ireland, 
found  somebody  there  before  him.  Indeed,  go- 
ing farther  back  still,  the  Irish  historian  Keating 


THE   SISTER   IN   IRELAND  9I 

says  :  "  To  give  an  account  of  the  first  inhabitants 
of  Ireland,  I  am  obliged  to  begin  at  the  creation 
of  the  World  !  "  This  is  probably  a  slight  rhet- 
orical exaggeration,  similar  to  that  of  the  Welsh- 
man who,  when  constructing  his  genealogical 
table,  remarked,  with  respect  to  one  of  his  an- 
cestors, ''  about  this  time  Adam  was  born."  With 
good  cause,  however,  do  the  Irish  boast  of  the 
extreme  antiquity  of  their  race  : 

"  Their  tribe,  they  said,  their  high  degree, 
Was  sung  in  Tara's  psaltery." 

But  the  most  enthusiastic  Irishman  will  hardly 
claim  that  the  stock  is  absolutely  pure.  The 
Emerald  Isle,  like  America,  has  had  its  fascination 
for  almost  every  nation.  To  her  shores  have 
come  successive  migrations,  until  at  last  no  coun- 
try in  Europe  contains  so  great  a  mixture  of 
races.  English  and  Scotch,  Danes  and  Normans, 
Gauls  and  Spaniards,  Northmen  from  Scandi- 
navia, and  Phoenicians  from  Carthage,  if  not  in- 
deed from  more  distant  Tyre  and  Sidon,  have  all 
found  a  home  in  Ireland. 

Naturally  their  religion  has  been  somewhat 
cosmopolitan.  There  have  been  gods  many  and 
lords  many.     Druidism  once  flourished  side  by 


92  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

side  with  the  Phoenician  worship  of  the  Sun, 
while,  notwithstanding  the  well-known  fact  that 
there  are  no  snakes  in  Ireland,  serpent  worship  is 
said  to  have  once  existed  there.  It  was  plainly 
a  fruitful  field  for  missionary  effort,  presenting 
some  new  problems  and  difficult  complications  to 
him  who  would  win  that  island  for  Clirist. 

Now,  when  we  first  hear  of  a  missionary  settling 
among  this  heterogeneous  population,  he  is  con- 
fessedly not  the  pioneer.  Christianity  is  there 
before  his  arrival,  and,  oddly  enough,  he  is  well 
aware  of  the  fact.  It  was  even  the  cause  of  his 
coming.  This  missionary  v/as  Palladius,  who  ar- 
rived from  Rome  in  431,  sent  by  Pope  Celestine 
to  ''  the  Irish  believing  in  Christ."  So  runs  the 
record.  Naturall}^  conjecture  has  been  bus}^  as 
to  why  he  came  at  all.  Was  the  Bishop  of  Rome 
at  this  early  date  seeking  the  lordship  over  his 
brethren  ?  No  ;  such  attempts  were  not  made  for 
at  least  two  centuries  later.  An  occasional 
bishop  of  Rome  might  be  at  times  somewhat 
arrogant,  as  the  bishop  of  the  world's  metropolis, 
but  taken  as  a  whole  the  Bishops  of  Rome 
were  for  centuries  earnest  apostolic  men,  who 
were  as  free  from  claiming  the  superiority  they 
now  claim  as  are  say  the  Bishops  of  London  or 


THE   SISTER   IN   IRELAND  93 

New  York.  Was  he  trying-,  then,  to  aid  the  Irish 
to  put  down  the  heresy  of  Pelagius  as  two  Gallic 
Bishops  had  just  helped  the  Church  in  Britain? 
We  do  not  know  that  the  Church  in  Ireland 
was  infected  with  the  heresy  of  Pelagius ;  but  if 
so,  the  Gallic  Church  would  have  been  the  one 
which  would  most  naturally  have  come  to  the 
rescue  of  the  Irish,  even  if  the  purified  and  now 
strengthened  British  Church  could  not  have  so 
done. 

We,  however,  would  make  a  third  suggestion. 
Why  should  not  Ninian,  bishop  of  the  western 
shore  of  Britain,  who  had  actually  been  conse- 
crated in  Rome,  tell  the  Bishop  of  Rome  of  the 
fields  whitening  unto  the  harvest  in  Ireland  ? 
From  his  own  monaster}^  at  Candida  Casa  it  is 
possible  that  brethren  had  often  gone  to  the  land 
whose  hills  they  could  distinctly  see  across  the 
strait.  But  Ninian  could  do  little  in  that  direc- 
tion. It  was  a  grand  opportunity  for  the  Church 
in  imperial  Rome,  with  her  Avealth  and  opportun- 
ities of  many  kinds,  and  the  Bishop  of  Rome 
nobly  seized  it.  All  honor  to  him  for  his  zeal 
and  for  the  effort  he  made.  Unfortunately  his 
choice  fell  on  the  wrong  man.  Palladius  v/as  not 
a  Columba  nor  a  Boniface,  nor  even  an  Auo-us- 


94  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

tine.  He  was  not  of  the  stuff  of  which  mission- 
aries are  made.  Founding  no  churches ;  con- 
verting no  tribe,  he  soon  left  the  missionary  field. 
And  so  ended  the  only  effort  Rome  ever  made  for 
the  true  evangelization  of  Ireland.  When  next 
she  appeared  it  was  very  much  in  the  spirit  of 
Mohammed,  whose  alternative  to  the  heretic  was 
the  Koran  or  the  Sword  ;  but  not  at  all  in  the 
spirit  of  the  Master  who  said  :  "  My  kingdom  is 
not  of  this  world."  ^  "  Put  up  thy  sword  into  the 
sheath."  2 

Happily  for  Ireland,  at  the  extreme  edge  of 
Ninian's  diocese  there  lived  in  the  old  Roman 
town  of  Dumbarton,  one  Calpurnius,  a  deacon  of 
the  British  Church,  as  well  as  an  official  of  his 
native  town.  The  wild  Irish,  sweeping  up  the 
Clyde  on  an  occasion,  seized  and  bore  away  to 
slavery  in  his  sixteenth  year,  a  son  of  this  British 
clerg3^man,  along  with  many  others  of  the  people. 
That  was  a  sad  day  for  Calpurnius  and  his  wife, 
who  tradition  says  was  a  sister  of  Martin  of 
Tours.  But  God  had  work  for  their  son  to  do. 
As  he  chose  David,  his  servant,  so  he  chose  Pat- 
rick also,  "  and  took  him  away  from  the  sheep- 
folds  :  as  he  was  following  the  ewes  great  with 

1  John  xviii.  36.  2  John  xviii.  11. 


THE   SISTER   IN   IRELAND  95 

young  ones  he  took  him  ;  that  he  might  feed 
Jacob  his  people,  and  Israel  his  inheritance.'*  ^ 
After  six  years  of  life  on  the  Irish  hills,  keeping 
sheep  for  a  pagan  master,  he  escaped  to  his  own 
country.  But  he  could  not  stay  at  home.  As  in 
the  vision  of  the  man  of  Macedonia,  when  St.  Paul 
heard  the  summons  to  go  across  the  blue  ^gean, 
so  Patrick  in  like  manner  heard  a  voice  saying  to 
him,  *'  Come  over  and  help  us."  Making  no  delay, 
he  sought  and  obtained  ordination  as  his  father 
had  done  before  him  ;  for  those  were  days  in  the 
Church  of  God 

"  Long  ere  her  churchmen,  by  bigotry, 
Were  barred  from  holy  wedlock's  tie." 

Soon  afterwards  having  been  consecrated  bishop 
to  the  Irish,  he  went  back  to  the  land  of  his  cap- 
tivity ;  and  there  in  the  same  field  and  among  the 
same  people  where  Palladius,  the  Roman  mis- 
sionary, had  so  ignorniniously  failed,  Patrick,  the 
British  bishop,  achieved  the  most  glorious  suc- 
cess ever  known  to  history  since  Apostolic  days. 
Partly  from  others,  partl}^  from  himself,  as  stated 
in  those  "  Confessions  "  of  his  which  remind  us  of 
the  Confessions  of  Augustine,  we  know  the  story 

'  Ps.  Ixxviii.  70-71. 


96  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

of  his  life;  and  very  sweet  and  very  beautiful  it  is. 
The  strongest  and  yet  gentlest  of  men,  with  the 
noblest,  most  devout  and  lovable  of  characters, 
he  was  the  man  whose  love  for  souls  has  made  for 
centuries  past  his  name  a  household  word  in  all 
western  Christendom — a  name  that  princes  have 
loved  to  bear. 

Modern  Rome  claims  this  man  for  her  own — a 
man  who  was  never  in  Rome  in  his  life,  who 
owes  nothing  to  her,  but  who,  on  the  contrar}^ 
v/as  the  child  of  the  old  British  Church  ;  bap- 
tized and  catechized  in  the  old  Church  of  which 
his  father  was  a  deacon.  Consecrated  a  bishop 
in  the  Gallic  Church,  a  man  who  never  mentions 
Rome,  and  whom  Rome  herself  never  mentions 
until  long  after  his  death,  we  justl}^  ask  on  what 
ground  or  pretence  the  attempt  is  made  to  rob 
the  British  Church  of  the  brightest  jewel  in  her 
crown.  His  work  began  in  432.  iVt  his  death  all 
Ireland  might  have  cried  out  as  did  Elisha,  "  My 
father,  my  father,  the  chariot  of  Israel  and  the 
horsemen  thereof."  ^  Mainly  to  him  was  it  due 
that,  by  the  seventh  centur}',  Ireland  was  called 
the  Isle  of  Saints,  and  that  from  that  isle,  long  be- 
fore the  seventh  century,  missionaries  went  forth 

1  2  Kings  ii.  12. 


THE   SISTER   IN   IRELAND  9/ 

to  Germany,  Italy,  Switzerland,  and  even  Britain; 
and  that  when  no  less  a  man  than  Gregory  the 
Great,  Bishop  of  Rome  though  he  was,  was  igno- 
rant of  the  Greek  language,*  the  clerg}'  of  Ireland 
were  reading  the  writings  of  the  New  Testament, 
not  only  in  their  own  tongue  in  which  they  were 
born,  but  in  the  language  in  which  the  Apostles 
and  Evangelists  wrote  them.^ 

Patrick,  Rome's  missionary  to  Ireland !  Then 
how,  may  v\^e  ask,  are  we  to  explain  these  two 
facts:  hrst,  that  Ireland  was  the  very  last  country 
in  Europe  to  submit  to  the  papal  claims,  and  then 
only  at  the  point  of  the  sword  ;  secondly,  that 
Downpatrick,  the  place  of  his  burial,  has  not,  in- 
stead of  Armagh,  been  holy  ground  to  the  Roman 
Catholic?  Not  until  the  twelfth  century  did  the 
Church  of  Patrick  lose  her  independence  ;  then  the 
fate  which  had  overtaken  all  western  Churches 
overtook  her.  It  happened  thus : — Once,  once 
onl}^,  in  all  the  long  history  of  the  papacy,  has 
there  been  an  English  Pope.  Then  was  wrought 
the  deed  of  shame.  That  English  Pope  plotted 
with  the  English  King  to  rivet  the  papal  chains 
upon  her  who  had  never  been  in  bondage  to  an}^ 
man.     Adrian  IV.  (Nicholas  Breakspear)  w^as  that 

1  See  his  Epistles,  vii.  32  ;  xi.  74.  ^  Killen,  p.  51. 

7 


98  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

English  Pope;  Henry  11.  was  that  English  King. 
Until  then  Ireland  was  free.  Until  then  Ireland 
was  utterly  indifferent  to  the  spiritual  thunders  of 
Rome.  But  this  indifference  could  not  be  forever 
tolerated  ;  and  the  Bishop  of  Rome  sought  at  last 
the  aid  of  England  against  Ireland,  very  much 
as  at  a  later  day,  he  sought  that  of  Spain  against 
England  herself.  Henry  was  called  upon  by  the 
Pope  to  invade  Ireland.  Poor  man  !  How  one 
sin  leads  on  to  another.  Two  years  before,  hav- 
ing murdered  Becket  for  fighting  the  Pope's  bat- 
tle,— a  deed  of  blood  that  cost  him  his  indepen- 
dence, and  at  which  all  Europe  stood  aghast, — he 
bared  his  back  in  penance  to  the  lash.  The  in- 
vasion of  a  free  country  at  the  bidding  of  his 
Roman  master  was  part  of  the  expiation  of  his 
crime. 

The  result  of  the  invasion  was  far-reaching.  It 
lasts  to  this  day.  It  is  more  than  seven  centuries 
since,  yet  to-day  Ireland  is  England's  chastise- 
ment. At  the  sacred  Rock  of  CasheV  in  1172, 
when  three  thousand  bishops  and  clergy  were 
assembled,  Henry  was  accepted  as  the  Sovereign 
Lord  of  Ireland  ;  then  for  the  first  time  in  her 
history  Ireland's  Church  bowed  down  as  vassal 

1  Wordswortli's  Church  of  Ireland,  p.  185, 


THE   SISTER   IN   IRELAND  99 

of  the  Pope.  The  very  Rock  itself  might  have 
cried  out.  What  a  contrast !  oh,  what  a  contrast! 
to  that  striking  scene  at  Runnymede  in  121 5, 
when  the  archbishops,  bishops,  barons,  and  peo- 
ple of  England  would  have  none  of  it,  and  when 
the  air  was  laden  with  the  shouts  of  those  who 
declared,  in  the  words  of  the  Great  Charter, 
"  The  English  Church  shall  be  free  !  "  '  In  Ire- 
land, alas,  how  different !  "  How  are  the  mighty 
fallen,  and  the  weapons  of  war  perished  !  "  ^ 

In  1 536  the  Bishop  of  Rome  was  declared  to  have 
no  rightful  jurisdiction  in  Ireland  ;  but  accepting 
not  the  judgment  of  the  national  Church,  he  es- 
tablished in  1565  the  present  Italian  Mission  there. 

The  spiritual  invasion  of  Ireland  by  the  Bishop 
of  Rome  is  indeed  the  more  inexcusable,  because 
there  has  never  been  any  pretence  that  Ireland 
has  not  always  possessed  a  valid  Episcopate.  We 
hear  of  no  Nag's  Head  Fable  there.  The  line 
of  the  Irish  Bishops  has  been, 

"  Like  the  bright  flame  that  shone  in  Kildare's  holy  fane 
And  burned  long  ages  through  darkness  and  storm." 

But  yet  unlike  that  sacred  fire  of  the  Nun  of  Kil- 
dare,  it  has  never  failed. 

*  Magna  Charta,  Sec.  i. ,  "  qv.od  Anglica7ta  ecclesia  libra  sit." 
2  2  Samuel  i.  27. 


lOO  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

We  do  not,  however,  speak  in  parables  when 
we  say  that  the  weak  spot  of  Ireland's  Church 
in  time  past  has  been  her  Episcopate.  To  those 
who  know  the  power  of  efficient  organization  and 
proper  concentration  of  forces,  and  are  familiar 
with  the  history  of  Ireland,  it  will  not  seem  strange 
that  the  old  Celtic  Church  was  thus,  on  her  own 
soil  and  among  her  own  people,  ousted  from  her 
rightful  place.  She  had  no  organization.  Her  in- 
herited constitution  was  against  her.  Pastors  she 
had  in  abundance  and  bishops  by  the  hundred  ; 
but  she  had  neither  Parishes  nor  Dioceses.^  Her 
Clergy  w^ere  as  so  many  wandering  stars.  When 
John  Wesley,  defying  all  parochial  order,  replied 
to  his  bishop's  admonition  that  all  the  world  was 
his  parish,  and  he  would  preach  where,  and  when, 
and  how  he  pleased,  he  was  but  follovv  ing  the  worst 
feature  in  the  life  of  the  old  Celtic  Church  in 
Ireland.  The  bishops  of  that  Church  claimed 
the  like  privilege.  Living  in  monastic  establish- 
ments they  issued  forth  like  soldiers  from  a  for- 
tress to  carry  on  a  guerilla  warfare.  Without 
definite  plans,  and  without  harmonious  arrange- 
ment, they  attempted  to  do  the  work  of  evan- 
gelists   and    so    build    up    a   Church    in     Ireland. 

'  Wordsworth's  Church  of  Ireland,  p.  ij. 


THE   SISTER   IN   IRELAND  10 1 

Who  can  wonder  that  a  system  like  this  broke 
down  before  the  onward  march  of  a  Church  which 
had  inherited  the  genius  of  imperial  Rome  tor 
organization,  and  well  understood  the  value  of 
orderi)^  and  methodical  work? 

To-day  this  old  Church  is  w^eak  and  impotent 
from  another  cause,  one  of  her  bishops,  the 
Bishop  of  Derry,  perhaps  the  ablest,  the  most  elo- 
quent, the  best  theologian  of  them  all,  being  the 
judge:  "The  prospect,"  said  this  bishop,  in  his 
address  to  the  Diocesan  Synod  of  Derry  and 
Raphoe,  October  21,  1890,  "  is  gloomy.  It  is  our 
sad  lot  to  live  in  a  land  of  ruins.  The  ashes  of 
the  furnace  of  disestablishment  sprinkled  towards 
heaven  in  1869  have  become  the  small  dust  of 
Communism  in  all  the  land."  The  Church  has 
been  losing  ground.  And  he  gives  the  reason  : 
"  We  have  had  for  long  generations,  so  far  as  ex- 
ternals Avere  concerned,  bald  services  and  ugly 
churches  ; "  speak  if  you  will  of  High  Church  or 
Low  Church.  There  is  a  standard  of  service  and 
a  measure  of  ritual  laid  down  in  our  service 
books ;  that  service  and  that  ritual  are  full  of 
innate  dignity  and  beauty.  Neglect  these  things, 
be  untrue  to  them,  and  a  Church  v/ill  fall  behind 
and  wither  away ! 


102  IN   THE    HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

Would  that  the  Churches  in  Britain  could  come 
to  the  help  of  the  Church  of  Ireland  ;  could  come 
there  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  ;  to  the  help  of  the 
Lord  against  the  mighty.  For  the  Churches  in 
Britain  have  owed,  and  yet  owe  much  to  that 
Church  of  Ireland :  ''  She  has  done  great  things 
for  them  ;  yea,  she  hath  done  great  things  for 
them  alread}^  whereof  they  rejoice."  ^  True,  they 
gave  Patrick  to  Ireland,  but  that  fact  ought  now 
to  be  their  chief  incentive ;  for  was  there  ever  a 
gift  more  bountifully  repaid,  ever  a  more  beauti- 
ful exhibition  of  the  Preacher's  words,  "  Cast  thy 
bread  upon  the  waters :  for  thou  shaft  find  it  after 
many  days."  ^  The  gift  of  Patrick  was  like  that 
gift  of  mercy,  which  blesseth  him  that  gives  and 
him  that  takes.  It  was  to  Britain  in  Britain's  own 
hour  of  need,  nearly  a  century  after  Patrick's 
death,  that  the  great  Columba  came ;  and  in  the 
original  home  of  Patrick,  and  all  along  that  west- 
ern shore,  the  Irish  Apostle's  son  in  the  faith 
labored  on,  building  churches,  establishing  mis- 
sions, converting  the  heathen,  until  all  through 
those  parts  a  flourishing  Church  was  again  seen. 
England,  too,  shared  the  fruit  of  Columba's  la- 
bors.    When  in  South  Britain  the  heathen  swept 

1  Ps.  cxxvi.  3,  4.  2  Eccl.  xi.  1. 


THE   SISTER   IN   IRELAND  IO3 

Christianity  from  the  land,  it  was  from  the  Irish 
missionary  stations  that  men  went  forth  into  North- 
umbria  to  preach  Christ  to  the  heathen  there  I 
Thus  Aidan  and  Finan  and  their  successors  re- 
kindled the  light  which  had  been  quenched,  and 
which,  thus  rekindled,  has  never  ceased  to  shine 
brightly,  and  shall  shine,  as  we  earnestly  believe, 
until  the  day  star  from  on  high,  before  which  all 
other  lights  will  ''  begin  to  pale  their  ineffectual 
fires,"  shall  rise  forevermore. 

To  Ireland's  Church,  as  a  Church,  we  of  Amer- 
ica owe  nothing ;  but  to  her  sons  we  have  owed 
much.  It  is  from  that  Church  that  some  of  our 
present  most  gifted  bishops  have  come.  Let 
one  of  these  tell  us  of  his  love  for  the  Church  of 
his  early  life  which  yet  abides,  while  he  guides 
a  diocese  in  the  land  of  his  adoption ;  as  loyal  a 
churchman  and  as  true  a  citizen  as  ever  any  born 
on  our  own  soil.  He  is  but  the  type  of  his  breth- 
ren, when  he  says :  ^  ''  It  is  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury since  that,  as  a  child,  I  stood  clasping  my 
father's  hand,  upon  the  deck  of  a  ship  which, 
drifting  down  the  Lough,  was  bearing  me  to  the 
land  I  love  with  every  pulse  of  my    heart — the 

1  Sermon  by  Hugh  Miller  Thompson,  Bishop  of  Mississippi,  in  Cork 
Cathedral,  vide  Canadian  Church  Guardian,  1888. 


104  IN   THE    HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

United  States  of  America.  And  yet  in  all  these 
years  I  have  never  ceased  to  love  the  land  of  my 
birth,  have  never  ceased  to  feel  a  pride  that  I  am 
an  Ulster  man,  a  Derry  man;  have  never  ceased 
to  be  thankful  that  I  v/as  baptized  and  catechized 
in  the  old  Church  of  Ireland,  the  Church  of  St. 
Patrick  and  Columbkille.  i\nd  as  the  vision  of 
'  Derry 's  sunlit  spire  '  was  the  last  I  remember  as 
a  child  of  the  home  I  was  leaving,  so  I  hailed  it 
the  other  day,  across  the  silvery  Foylc  as  symbol, 
on  its  rock-founded  and  rock-girded  hill,  of  that 
unchangeable  Church  which,  in  all  the  shocks  of 
time  and  change,  remains  the  same,  and  which 
lifts,  as  your  fair  Cathedral  lifts,  its  gleaming 
cross  aloft,  to  point  our  souls  to  the  unchanging 
heaven,  our  fatherland  and  home." 


VII. 

THE    DIVINE   CONSTITUTION   OF    THE 
CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


VII. 


THE   DIVINE    CONSTITUTION   OF    THE 
CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

"  Our  Constitution  had  begun  to  exist  in  times  when  states- 
men were  not  much  accustomed  to  frame  exact  definitions." 

— Macaulay. 

Without  a  constitution,  no  nation,  no  state,  no 
society,  no  organized  body  of  men  can  exist  at  all. 
Its  supreme  importance  is  aptly  witnessed  to  by 
our  ordinary  phraseology.  By  an  easy  transfer 
of  ideas,  we  do  not  hesitate  to  speak  of  the  aggre- 
gate of  our  vital  powers  as  our  physical  constitu- 
tion. Now,  what  that  is  to  a  man  we  well  know. 
It  is  peace  of  mind  and  ease  of  body  ;  it  is  suc- 
cess ;  it  is  happiness ;  it  is  life  itself.  Similarly 
the  Church  of  Christ  has  a  constitution,  which  is 
to  her  all  that  such  can  ever  be  to  the  state  it  cre- 
ates and  by  which  it  is  created.  But  with  this 
difference :  That  of  the  Church  is  divine ;  the 
hand  of  man  may  not  touch  it :  whereas  that  of 


I08  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

the  State  is  but  human,  and  may  at  any  time  be 
amended,  changed,  or  even  ended.  In  this  respect 
there  is  a  chasnj,  deep  and  wide  as  the  ocean, 
between  the  Church  of  Christ  and  ever}^  other 
organized  body  in  tlie  world. 

Now,  a  nation's  constitution  is  generally  stated 
in  language  so  clear,  that  ''  the  wayfaring  men, 
though  fools,  shall  not  err  therein."  ^  Such, 
e.^.,  is  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  of 
America ;  for  it  is  reasonably  brief  and  it  is  rea- 
sonably clear.  We  once  heard  a  distinguished 
judge,  addressing  a  body  of  law  students,  say 
that  they  could  read  it  through  while  they  were 
discussing  the  last  game  of  base-ball.  On  the 
other  hand  it  might  have  been  neither  clear 
nor  brief,  nor  even  written  at  all.  Partly  en- 
shrined in  unwritten  customs  and  time-worn  tradi- 
tions,  partly  in  the  historical  records  of  a  distant 
past,  partly  contained  in  supplementary  Statutes 
and  Ordinances  of  modern  legislation,  we  do  not 
infrequently  find  a  country's  Constitution.  Such 
is  that  e.g-.,  of  England:  ''Our  Constitution," 
said  Macaulay,  "  had  begun  to  exist  in  times  when 
statesmen  were  not  much  accustomed  to  frame 
exact  definitions."     Had   he  spoken  this  word  of 

J  Isaiali  XXXV.  8. 


THE   DIVINi:   CONSTITUTION  lOQ 

the  Church  and  not  of  the  State,  it  would  have 
been  equally  true.     The  New  Testament  proves 
this.     There  we  find  nothing  like   a  formal  state- 
ment constituting  the  Christian  Church,   clearly 
defining  and  determining    the  conditions  of  her 
being;  nothing  like  that   clear  w^ord   of   ancient 
days  when   God  ''  gave   Israel  a  law ;  wdiich  he 
commanded  our  forefathers    to    teach  their  chil- 
dren ;  that  their  posterity  might  know  it :  and  the 
children  which  were  yet  unborn:  To  the  intent 
that  when  they  came  up  :  they  might  show  their 
children    the    same."  ^     There   is    nothing   in  the 
New    Testament   at    all   approaching    an     exact 
definition   of  the   essentials  of  the  Church:    and 
yet  it  would  be  an  error  to  suppose  that  there 
is   nothino-    of    that    nature  to    be    found    in    its 
pages,  wdiich  is  the  Last  Source  of  all  our  knowl- 
edge of  things  spiritual !     On  the  contrary,  a  Con- 
stitution is  there  enshrined  so  closely  illustrated 
in  all  the  workings  of  the  history  of  that  period, 
that  even  were  we  without  the  New  Testament, 
we  could  still  show  from  the  records  of  Apostolic 
life    what  was   the    original    Constitution    of   the 
Apostolic  Church  !     For  us  those  Scriptures  will 
ever  contain  all  things  necessary  to  be   believed. 

1  Ps.  Ixxviii.  5,  6. 


no  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

They  are  that  Word  of  God  of  which  it  is  de- 
clared that  while  "  the  grass  withereth  and  the 
flower  fadeth,  the  word  of  our  God  shall  stand 
forever."  ^ 

The  great  Bishop  Butler  has  told  us  that  "  a 
man  may  lose  his  limbs,  his  organs  of  sense,  and 
even  the  greater  part  of  his  bod}^  and  yet  remain 
the  same  living  agent."  ^  These  things  are  in  real- 
ity no  part  of  a  man's  true  self,  and  their  re- 
moval is  not,  therefore,  the  dissolution  of  the  liv- 
ing agent.  In  a  similar  manner  much,  perhaps, 
of  what  we  have  been  apt  to  think  of  as  the 
Church's  true  self  may  be  removed,  and  no  disso- 
lution will  follow.  But  remove  essential  things 
and  the  Church  ceases  to  be.  Our  present  in- 
quiry is  as  to  what  these  essentia/  things  are. 

The  Church  is  literally  God's  kingdom  on 
earth.  Jesus  Christ,  dof/i  God  and  Man,  is  its 
King.  Any  other  that  in  this  kingdom  maketh 
himself  a  king  or  potentate,  speaketh  against 
Christ,  who  alone  is  rightfully  Lord  of  all.  His 
kingdom  was  founded  and  absolutely  exists  for 
certain  definite  and  well  understood  objects.  It 
is  itself  a  distinct  creation  in  the  world,  yet  "  not 
of  this  world."     Membership  therein  is  obtained 

1  Isaiah  xl.  7.  ^  xhe  Analogy  of  Religion,  Part  I.   Chap.  i. 


THE   DIVINE   CONSTITUTION  III 

in  a  particular  way,  good  standing  maintained  in 
another  way,  while  its  affairs  are  administered  by 
officials  whose  duties  and  powers  are  created  and 
defined  by  the  original  constitution  itself.  The 
general  arrangement  of  the  Church,  in  fact,  re- 
minds us  of  a  well-planned  and  carefully  ordered 
civil  government,  whether  monarchy  or  republic 
makes  no  real  difference. 

Let  us  speak,  first,  of  the  officials.  They  are 
analogous  to  the  magistrates  in  a  civil  common- 
wealth and  are ,  and  always  have  been,  of  three 
ranks  or  orders.  "  It  is  evident  unto  all  men," 
the  Prayer  Book  says, ''  diligently  reading  Holy 
Scripture  and  ancient  Authors,  that  from  the 
Apostles'  time  there  have  been  these  Orders  of 
ministers  in  Christ's  Church, — Bishops,  Priests, 
and  Deacons."  ^  Please  observe  that  the  appeal 
is  to  history;  not  to  dogmas  of  the  school,  nor 
to  degrees  of  council,  but  to  history. 

The  lowest  Order  is  that  of  Deacons.  These 
were  at  first  appointed  to  assist  the  higher  offi- 
cers in  their  secular  and  routine  business,  so  as 
to  leave  them  at  liberty  to  attend  to  the  weightier 
matters  of  the  law."    But  it  is  clear  that  they  were 

1  Prayer  Book,  Preface  to  Ordination  Services,  p.  509. 
2  Acts  vi.  I  to  6. 


112  IN    THE    HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

also  empowered  to  help  them  in  their  more  re- 
ligious  and  sacred  work.^  The  first  deacons 
preached  and  baptized ;  as  did  S.  Philip,  with 
signal  success,  in  Samaria.^  At  the  present  day  a 
deacon  is  commonly  one  looking  forward  to  be 
called  unto  the  higher  ministries  in  the  Church. 
The  Church,  indeed,  exhorts  him  so  to  use  his 
office  that  he  ma)^  be  found  worthy  of  this  ad- 
vancement.^ Meanwhile,  what  his  duties  are  we 
have  been  told  by  good  George  Herbert  in  his 
own  inimitable  and  quaint  way.     The  Deacon  : 

"  He's  purposely  ordain'd  to  minister, 
In  sacred  things,  to  another  officer." 

The    second    Order   is   that   ot    Presbyters   or 
Priests,  the  name  matters  not : 

"  For  Priest  is  but  Presbyter  writ  short." 

For  brevity's  sake,  ay,  and  for  another  reason 
too,  we  will  give  him  the  shorter  name : 

"  The  Priest,  I  say,  the  Presbyter,  I  mean, 

As  nowadays  he's  called 

By  many  men  ;  but  I  choose  to  retain 

1  Acts  vi.  7  to  15.  2  Acts  viii.  5  to  40. 

^Prayer  Book,  p.  513,  Collect. 


THE   DIVINE    CONSTITUTION  II3 

The  name  wherewith  install'd — 
He  was  at  first  in  our  own  mother  tongue, 
And  doing  so,  I  hope,  I  do  no  wrong." 

It  is  of  these  officers  that  S.  Paul,  writing  to 
Timothy,  says  :  "  Let  the  elders  that  rule  well  be 
counted  worthy  of  double  honor,  especially  they 
who  labor  in  the  word  and  doctrine."  ^  We  often 
find  mention  made  in  Scripture  of  these  elders, 
or  priests  as  we  now  call  them,  but  never  under 
more  touching  circumstances  than  when  those 
who  were  in  charge  of  the  churches  of  Ephesus 
met  S.  Paul  at  Miletus  and  sadly  took  their  last 
farewell,  sorrowing  most  of  all  for  the  words 
which  he  spake,  that  they  should  see  his  face  no 
more.^  The  special  work  of  these,  as  men  Vvdiolly 
conseciTttcd  to  God,  is  the  care  of  souls  ;  the  ad- 
ministration of  public  worship  and  of  the  sacra- 
ments ;  the  preaching  of  God's  Word  ;  the  visita- 
tion of  the  sick,  and  the  due  exercise  of  discipline 
over  the  flocks  committed  to  them. 

The  highest  in  rank  is  the  bishop.  To  some 
it  is  doubtful  what  this  office  is.  Their  diffi- 
culty arises  from  the  fact  that  at  first  these  offi- 
cials  bear    other    titles.     Not    seldom   are    they 

^  I  Tim   V   17.  2  Acts  xx.  17  to  38. 

8 


114  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF    FAITH 

styled  Apostles,  sometimes  Angels,  as  S.  John 
terms  them  in  the  Apocalypse  when  speaking  of 
the  seven  churches  of  Asia  Minor  ;  sometimes  by 
the  name  they  now  universally  bear;  but  what 
matters  it?  Overseers  of  their  brethren  were  they 
always,  and  true  magistrates  of  the  Church  of 
God,  to  whom  was  committed  the  oversight  and 
general  government  of  the  Christian  Church  ; 
officers  divinely  appointed,  through  human  agen- 
cies, to  commission  their  successors  from  and 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  forever,  and  to  order  every 
sacred  function  which  belongs  to  the  Church 
Militant  in  all  its  fulness  till  time  shall  be  no 
more. 

The  ceremony  by  which  one  becomes  a  mem- 
ber of  this  kingdom  is  known  as  baptism.  As 
natural  birth  put  us  into  the  visible  world,  so 
Christian  baptism  put  us  into  the  spiritual  world. 
By  the  washing  of  water  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  we  are  made  mem- 
bers of  this  Church,  children  of  God,  and  inheri- 
tors of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  presumptively 
hereafter.  Without  doubt,  and  without  delay, 
and,  so  far  as  we  kjioiv,  never  in  any  other  way, 
are  we  admitted  to  this  spiritual  citizenship  and 
all  its  attendant  blcssin<rs. 


THE   DIVINE    CONSTITUTION  II5 

Many  find  this  teaching-  a  stumbling-block. 
They  cannot  understand  how  so  much  can  de- 
pend upon  so  ''  little."  Perhaps  the  difficulty  orig- 
inates in  the  thought  that  baptism  is  little.  But 
nothing  connected  with  the  Avorship  of  God  is 
little.  Moreover,  whatever  baptism  intrinsically 
may  be,  its  observance  is  absolutely  bound  up 
with  the  alternatives  of  obedience  or  disobedience 
to  the  plain  command  of  our  King.  He  has  com- 
manded His  servants  to  go  into  all  the  world  and 
baptize  every  creature ;  which  is  surely  not  less 
a  command  to  every  creature  to  be  baptized  than 
it  is  to  them  to  baptize.  But  no  Christ-given 
ceremony  can  ever  be  a  small  and  unimportant 
matter.  Yet  if  it  were,  '*  Behold,  how  great  a 
matter  a  little  fire  kindleth  !  "^  The  spark  which 
became  the  great  fire  of  Chicago  might  once  have 
been  quenched  by  a  mere  child  with  a  jug  of  water 
in  his  hand.  So,  too,  the  birth  of  an  infant  child 
is  but  in  itself  a  trifling  event  when  it  is  over ; 
yet  upon  it  altogether  depends  the  whole  future 
life  of  that  child.  Now,  baptism  is  like  that  birth  : 
for  baptism  is  spiritual  birth  ! 

It  is,  at  all  events,  an  indication  of  the  impor- 
tance the  Church  assigns  to  baptism,  that  she  pro- 

1  James  iii.  5. 


Il6  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

vides  for  its  administration  no  less  than  three 
forms  of  service : 

I. — For  infants  who  soon  after  birth  are,  and 
should  be,  brought  to  the  Church ; 

2. — For  those  who  are  in  danger  of  death  and 
cannot  be  taken  out  of  their  houses ; 

3. — For  adults  whose  baptism  has  been  hitherto 
neglected  or  deferred. 

But,  admitting  the  duty  of  those  who  have 
come  to  years  of  discretion  to  be  baptized,  v/hy 
baptize  in  infancy  ?  We  answer  that  not  one  only, 
but  several  considerations,  have  led  the  Church  to 
baptize  the  lambs  of  the  fiock. 

She  remembers,  first  of  all,  that  baptism  corre- 
sponds to  circumcision,  v/hich  vras  administered 
to  infants  of  only  eight  days  old,  and  that  neglect 
of  that  ordinance  vras  severely  punished  ^  under 
Hebraic  law. 

In  the  next  place,  she  remembers  that  the 
charge  to  baptize  every  creature  was  given  even 
to  Jews.  Now  can  anyone  doubt  how  such  Jews 
as  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  and  James  would  interpret 
this  command,  accustomed  as  they  had  ever  been 
to  see  children  of  the  tendcrest  age  admitted  into 
covenant   relationship    witii  God  under   the  old 

1  Exodus  ix.  24. 


THE   DIVINE   CONSTITUTION  II7 

dispensation  ?  Would  they  have  been  likely  to 
refuse  baptism  to  the  tenderest  infant?  Had  they 
been  disposed  to  do  so,  what  objection  would 
they  have  offered?  If  any,  under  what  authority  ? 
Had  not  Christ  said  expressly,  "  Suffer  the  little 
children  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them 
not  ? "  ^  Had  not  this  settled  it  to  their  Jewish 
minds  ? 

Furthermore  can  anyone,  studying  the  New 
Testament  diligently,  fail  to  acknowledge  that  it  is 
more  probable  than  not  that  children  were  actu- 
ally baptized  by  the  Apostles,  since  whole  house, 
holds  were  baptized  by  them  at  one  time  ;  and  es- 
pecially so  since  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  they 
expressly  taught  that  the  promises  of  the  Gospel 
were  to  the  children  also,  ''  to  you  and  your  chil- 
dren." 2 

Again,  there  is  in  evidence  the  nature  of  bap- 
tism itself.  If,  as  Christ  said,  it  be  so  that ''  except 
a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  can- 
not enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God,"  ^  then  bap- 
tism is  indeed  a  new  birth — a  birth  into  that  king- 
dom, which  is  the  Church  of  God  militant  here  on 
earth.  And  why,  since  infants  are  but  passive  re- 
cipients of  natural  birth,  life,  and  sustenance,  and 

1  Mark  x.  14.  =  Acts  ii.  39.  =  John  iii.  5. 


Il8  IN   THE    HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

their  early  unconsciousness  is  admittedly  no  bar 
to  their  immediately  inheriting  property  or  re- 
ceiving gifts,  must  a  spiritual  birth  alone  be  de- 
pendent upon  consciousness  and  intelligence? 
We  confidently  await  a  satisfactory  answer  to 
this  question,  as  even  to  what  is  utterly  unan- 
swerable. 

For  these  reasons  the  Church  from  the  beg^in- 
ning  has  ever  baptized  infants.  By  this  baptism 
these  little  ones  are  made  God's  children,  not 
Methodists  or  Baptists,  Presbyterians  or  Congre- 
gationalists,  not  even  Episcopalians  ;  but  they  are 
made  Christians — children  of  the  Catholic  Church 
of  Christ,  and  the  Catholic  Church  is  thus  coex- 
tensive with  all  who  are  rightly  baptized. 

Next  to  baptism  comes  confirmation — in  a  cer- 
tain sense  a  part  of  baptism.  Through  the  ab- 
sence of  bishops,  for  years  and  years  it  was  never 
administered  in  America.  The  advent  of  apos- 
tolic bishops  here  was  followed  by  a  series  of 
confirmation  services,  almost  Pentecostal  in  their 
fervor  and  in  the  greatness  of  their  results.  In 
the  denominational  bodies  it  remains  not  yet  ad- 
ministered. Through  the  same  lack  of  Officers 
which  once  prevented  its  administration  in  the 
old  Church  of   the  land,   these    newer    Christian 


THE   DIVINE    CONSTITUTION  1 19 

communities  are  unwillingly  obliged  to  dispense 
with  it  now.  Confirmation  is,  in  fact,  still  called 
in  some  places  "  Bishop's  Baptism."  It  is  the 
complement  and  fulfilment  of  baptism.  Its  chief 
idea  is  that  something  already  in  existence  needs 
strengthening.  It  is  a  buttress  built  to  support 
a  wall  already  standing ;  armor  given  to  a  sol- 
dier already  enlisted.  In  the  words  of  an  old 
Prayer  -  Book,'  "  Confirmation  is  ministered  to 
them  that  be  baptized,  that  by  imposition  of 
hands  and  prayer,  they  may  receive  strength  and 
defence  against  all  temptation  to  sin  and  the  as- 
saults of  the  world  and  the  devil." 

This  is  all  clear  enough,  and  yet  often  mistaken 
are  some  of  the  most  loyal  of  the  Church's  chil- 
dren about  the  meaning  of  this  service.  It  is  often 
regarded  as  the  formal  and  public  '^  joining  the 
Church."  How  strange  that  such  an  idea  should 
become  so  prevalent.  One  cannot  join  that  of 
which  one  is  already  a  member,  and  by  baptism 
we  were  made  members  of  the  Church  once  for 
all.  It  is  thus  an  error  to  speak  of  "joining  the 
Church  "  at  confirmation  ;  so  also  is  it  an  error 
to  think  of  it  as  simply  taking  vows  upon  our- 
selves once  made  for  us  by  others.     The  adult 

1  The  Prayer-Book  of  1549. 


120  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

candidate  for  baptism  answers  for  himself  at  his 
baptism,  and  yet  he  must  be  and  is  confirmed  all 
the  same  ;  just  as  the  twelve  men  at  Ephesus  were 
confirmed  by  S.  Paul,  who  had  a  little  while  be- 
fore been  baptized  by  him.  Baptism  waits  for  its 
full  completion,  and  for  the  more  abundant  out- 
pouring of  the  Holy  Spirit,  at  confirmation,  when 
we  are  admitted  to  the  fullest  membership,  and 
share  in  all  the  privileges  of  the  divinely  consti- 
tuted Church  of  Christ. 

Baptized,  and  then  confirmed,  the  citizen  of  the 
great  Christian  Republic  can  at  once  claim  its 
greatest  blessings.  He  is  then  called,  indeed,  to 
true  Holy  Communion.  But  even  here  there  is 
no  mere  badge  of  membership,  nor  yet  even  the 
only  act  of  VN^orship  provided  by  the  constitution 
of  the  Church,  but  in  truth  a  chosen  means  of 
maintaining  health}^  spiritual  life.  ''  This  do," 
said  our  King,  "  in  remembrance  of  Me."  ^  "  My 
flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my  blood  is  drink  in- 
deed."^ 

Alas,  that  there  should  ever  have  been  any  mis- 
understanding about  statements  so  plain,  and  a 
service  so  solemn.  Yet  there  have  been  misun- 
derstandings from  the  first :  ''  How  can  this  man 

'Luke  xxii.  19.  sjoim  vi.  55. 


THE   DIVINE   CONSTITUTION  121 

give  US  his  flesh  to  eat?"^  incredulously  asked 
the  men  who  first  heard  the  words,  ''  Whoso  eat- 
eth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood  hath  eternal 
life."  ^  And  still  men  continue  to  ask  the  ques- 
tion. But  is  it  really  necessary  that  they  should 
know,  necessary  even  that  they  should  all  attach 
one  and  the  same  meaning  to  those  solemn  words? 
Is  not  simple,  unquestioning  obedience  to  the 
King's  command  sufficient?  It  is  indeed  requisite 
to  see  that  we  have  something  here  altogether 
holy,  which  must  be  treated  v/ith  all  due  rever-  i 

ence ;  but  is  there  need  of  more  ?     May  we  not,  | 

with  Queen  Elizabeth,  say : 

"  Christ  took  the  bread  and  brake  it ;  ; 

He  was  the  Word  that  spake  it ;  ; 

And  what  that  Word  doth  make  it,  i 

That  I  beheve,  and  take  it." 

Yet  all  knowledge  is  not  denied.    Much  we  can  I 

know,  and  all  we  rightly  can,   we  should   know.  ] 
Knowledge  is  always  power  ;  power  here  to  love 
God  better  and  better ;  power  to  find  truer  joy 

and  peace  in  believing  ;  and  power  to  find  more  j 

and  more  grace  to  help  us  in  time  of  need.  J 

The  Holy  Communion  is  the  continual  plead  \(yy^iO^^ 

'  ''  —  ^J 

»Johnvi.S2.  2johnvi.  54.  ■  *---^^ 


>i. 


\ 


122  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

ing  before  God  of  the  one  perfect  sacrifice  of  the 
Son  of  God.  That  full,  perfect,  and  sufficient 
sacrifice  and  oblation  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
world,  can  never  be  repeated.  But  when  we  en- 
ter God's  House  to  show,  in  Christ's  own  way, 
Christ's  death  till  He  come,  we  as  it  were  plead 
that  sacrifice  again,  and  put  God  again  in  mind  of 
it ;  we  claim  in  it  the  sole  merits  of  Christ  our 
shield,  so  that  all  through  its  solemn  celebration 
we  seem  to  be  saying :  "  Jesus  died  for  me :  be- 
tween my  sins  and  their  deservings  I  put  his 
cross  and  passion." 

Let  us  here  note  that  the  distinction  sometimes 
drawn  between  the  Jewish  priests  and  Christian 
priests,  as  if  the  former  were  sacrificing  priests 
and  the  latter  not,  is  misleading.  "  A  little  knowl- 
edge is  a  dangerous  thing."  The  Jewish  priests 
were  sacrificing  priests  only  in  the  sense  that 
Christian  priests  are.  Jewish  sacrifices  found 
their  efficacy  only  at  Calvary,  and  apart  from  the 
sacrifice  on  the  Cross  they  were  ''  lighter  than 
vanity  itself."  It  was  of  these  very  sacrifices  that 
S.  Paul  declared  :  "  Every  priest  standeth  daily 
ministerinp*  and  offerins^  oftentimes  the  same  sac- 
rifices,  which  can  never  take  away  sins."  ^ 

1  Heb.  X.  II. 


THE   DIVINE   CONSTITUTION  123 

"  Not  all  the  blood  of  beasts, 
On  Jewish  altars  slain, 
Could  give  the  guilty  conscience  peace, 
Or  wash  away  the  stain." 

There  is  indeed  one  difference  between  ours  and 
theirs,  but  it  is  not  important.  It  is  this :  theirs 
looked  forward  ;  ours,  backward.  Theirs  were  for 
the  most  part  accompanied  by  the  shedding  of 
blood ;  ours  altogether  without,  ''  ours  is  the  sac- 
rifice of  praise  and  thanksgiving — of  soul  and 
body."  But  in  the  thing  itself,  in  all  the  essentials 
of  the  service,  in  the  root  idea  of  sacrifice,  Jewish 
and  Christian  sacrifices  v/ere  the  same.  Hence 
S.  Paul  says:  ''We  have  an  altar."  ^  So,  too, 
have  we  priests,  modelled  after  the  pattern  of 
him  who  was  the  only  true  Sacrificing  Priest 
there  has  ever  been — that  Holy  One,  who,  having 
made,  by  one  oblation  once  offered,  one  full  per- 
fect and  sufficient  sacrifice  for  sins,  sat  down  for- 
ever at  the  right  hand  of  God. 

Now,  what  is  the  raison  d'etre  of  all  this  ?  What 
is  the  Church's  ''  mission?  "  We  briefly  answer  : 
The  salvation  of  men.  This  is  not,  however,  as 
some  think,  a  future  but  a  present  work.  With- 
out salvation  here  and  now,  there  can  be  no  sal- 

1  Heb.  xiii.  10. 


124  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

vation  hereafter.  Yet  salvation  is  not  of  the 
Church.  The  Church  is  a  created  thing  and  sal- 
vation must  come  from  God. 

"  Christ  is  made  the  sure  sanation, 
Christ,  the  head  and  corner-stone." 

"  For  there  is  none  other  name  under  heaven 
given  among  men  whereby  we  must  be  saved."  ^ 
Yet  the  Church  bears  a  part  in  a  work  so  glori- 
ous. Her  mission — her  primary  mission — is  to 
reveal  and  preserve  the  truth.  For  this  she  ex- 
isted in  Jewish  days  ;  for  this  she  was  re-created 
by  Christ  and  received  a  new  commission.  What 
S.  John  says  of  his  own  Gospel  is  true  of  all 
Scripture,  old  and  new.  ''  These  are  written  that 
ye  might  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son 
of  God  ;  and  that  believing  ye  might  have  life 
through  his  name.'"^  The  manifestation  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the 
Life,  is  the  central  essence  of  the  scriptural  rev- 
elation. 

The  Church  is  the  divinely  appointed  guardian 
of  the  truth  ;  with  the  Apostles'  Creed  for  her 
constitution.  The  articles  of  that  creed  are  as 
the  keystones  to  her  arches  "  built  upon  the  foun- 

1  Acts  iv.  12.  3  John  xx.  31. 


THE   DIVINE   CONSTITUTION  I25 

dation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ 
Himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone."  ^ 

We  have  thus  laid  bare  the  framework  of  the 
Church.  By  another  metaphor  this  framework 
supports  what  is  sometimes  termed  the  platform 
of  the  Church.  The  kingship  of  Christ,  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  the  two  Sacraments,  the  Creeds,  the 
Apostolic  Ministry,  constitute  this  framework  and 
platform.  Here  we  have  *'  the  faith  once  deliv- 
ered to  the  saints." 

If  it  be  pointed  out  that  in  this  ''  framework  " 
or  "  platform  "  no  mention  is  made  of  confirma- 
tion, nor  yet  of  the  orders  of  deacon  and  priest, 
which  we  have  spoken  of  as  a  necessary  part  of 
the  divine  Constitution,  we  reply  that  confirma- 
tion is  but  a  part  of  baptism,  and  that  the  lower 
orders  of  the  ministry  are  involved  in  the  higher. 
The  episcopate  is  at  once  the  fountain  and  the 
river  of  the  ministry,  the  priesthood  and  the  dia- 
conate  are  as  tributary  rivulets  inflowing  from 
the  common  source.  The  less  is  contained  in  the 
greater,  and  that  greater  is  the  historic  episcopate 
with  its  Head  enthroned  in  heaven  : — that  great 
Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  our  souls,  under  whose 
unsleeping  Episcopate  the  Church  is  accomplish- 
ing her  work ! 

»  Eph.  ii.  20. 


VIII. 

THE  HUMAN  ORGANIZATION    OF  THE 
CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA 


VIII. 

THE  HUMAN   ORGANIZATION   OF  THE 
CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA 

••  The  heavens  themselves,  the  planets  and  this  centre 
Observe  degree,  priority  and  space." 

—Shakespeare  :  "  Troilus  and  Cressida," 
Act  I.,  Sc.  3. 

Eighteen  centuries  have  left  their  mark  upon 
the  Church's  framework,  and  to-day  she  stands 
forth  a  kingdom  not  of  this  world,  3^et  a  king- 
dom highl}^  organized.  Her  organization  is,  of 
course,  something  entirely  different  from  her 
Constitution.  That  is  unalterable.  "  No  decree 
nor  statute  which  the  King  establisheth  may  be 
changed."  ^  But  it  is  not  so  with  her  temporal 
organization.  That  can  be  changed,  for  it  is 
merely  the  machinery  with  which  she  does  her 
work.  Indeed,  it  is  an  indispensable  mark  of  a 
true  national  Church  that  she  can  at  any  time 
adapt  her  methods  to  the  ever-changing  demands 

1  Daniel  vi.  15. 
9 


I30  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

of  the  age.  "  Every  particular  or  national 
Church  hath  authority  to  ordain,  change,  or  abol- 
ish Ceremonies  or  Rites  of  the  Church  ordained 
only  by  man's  authority,  so  that  all  things  be 
done  to  edifying."  ^ 

It  is  of  this  temporal  organization  that  we  now 
speak.  But  temporal  though  it  be,  its  importance 
is  confessedly  great.  Bible,  sacraments,  and  of- 
ficers there  might  be;  but  if  the  Church  pos- 
sessed no  organization,  she  would  be  very  much 
in  the  position  of  a  body  of  citizens  without  dis- 
cipline or  military  training  marching  against  a 
well-drilled  enemy.  However  well  accoutred, 
well  officered,  patriotic  in  spirit,  and  united  in 
purpose  those  citizens  might  be,  they  could  never 
contend  successfully  against  well-trained  invad- 
ers. Even  numbers,  strength,  integrity  of  pur- 
pose, and  righteousness  of  cause  would  not  atone 
for  such  lack  of  order  and  method.  Hence  the 
value  and  need  of  organization.  With  this,  then, 
are  we  now  only  concerned.  We  are  thinking, 
to  use  Bishop  Butler's  simile,  not  about  what 
constitutes  the  man,  the  living  agent,  but  about 
those  organs  of  sense  and  movement  which  mean 
so  much  to  a  man,  but  yet  are  no  essential  parts 

»  Art.  of  Religion  XXXIV. 


THE   HUMAN   ORGANIZATION  I3I 

of  him.  Our  inquiry  will  thus  be  seen  to  be  not 
about  the  being,  the  esse,  but  about  the  well- 
being,  the  bene  esse,  of  the  Church. 

We  do  well  to  speak  on  this  subject,  since  there 
is  not  merely  no  little  confusion  but  that  also 
where  we  should  least  expect  it.  Among  even 
Church  people  some  do  not  seem  to  understand 
that,  while  such  things  as  baptism,  holy  commun- 
ion, bishops,  belong  essentially  to  the  Church's 
constitution,  dioceses,  archbishops,  rectors,  ves- 
tries, and  the  like  belong  to  her  temporal  organi- 
zation only,  and  that  these  latter— name  and  thing 
— may  be  dispensed  with,  and  the  Church  still  be 
here.  Poorer  without  them  she  would  be,  like  a 
soldier  suddenly  deprived  in  the  midst  of  battle 
of  his  ordinary  weapons  ;  or  like  an  artisan,  de- 
prived of  his  tools  and  reduced  to  use  only  his 
mere  hands  ;  yet  she  would  still  be  the  Church, 
and  her  authority,  inalienable  rights,  and  divine 
constitution  would  remain  untouched. 

The  first  temporal  feature  of  the  Church  we 
will  now  consider  is  the  parish.  Historically, 
save  in  name,  it  had  not  any  pre-eminence.  The 
diocese,  once  so-called,  was  first ;  but  as  the 
parish  is  the  channel  through  which  all  our 
knowledge  of  the  Church  is  now  usually  attained. 


132  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

we  give  it  precedence.  What,  then,  is  a  parish  ? 
We  once  knew  a  country  rector  who,  on  resign- 
ing his  charge,  handed  it  over  to  his  successor 
along  with  his  horse  and  carriage,  and  well-fur- 
nished rectory.  His  children,  not  entirely  ap- 
preciating the  situation,  were  at  a  loss  to  know 
why  their  father  had  given  up  everything  to  the 
stranger,  and  their  little  minds  were  somewhat 
troubled.  But  what  puzzled  them  m.ost  of  all 
was  this  very  word  parish.  Their  father  had 
given  up  that.  But  what  v/as  that?  It  wasn't  a 
horse,  it  wasn't  a  garden,  it  was  not  a  house — 
then  what  was  it?  They  could  not  tell.  We 
fear  that  they  did  not  stand  alone  in  their  diffi- 
culty. Well,  then,  a  parish  is  a  territorial  dis- 
trict specifically  assigned  to  a  minister's  spiritual 
care.  Beyond  the  bounds  of  this  limited  district 
he  has  no  individual  jurisdiction.  Outside  of  it 
he  cannot  claim  as  a  right  to  hold  a  single  relig- 
ious service  nor  do  any  ecclesiastical  work.  Do 
we  ask  why  this  exclusive  authority  on  the  one 
hand,  and  its  curious  limitation  on  the  other? 
The  Church,  like  her  Master,  gives  to  every  man 
his  own  special  work,  and  just  as  Nature  abhors  a 
vacuum,  so  she  abhors  divided  responsibility. 
She  gives  to  each  one  his  definite  place  and  defi- 


THE   HUMAN   ORGANIZATION  1 33 

nite  work,  and  makes  him  specially  responsible 
for  his  part  of  the  vineyard. 

Every  parish  is  governed  by  a  vestry.  This 
body,  consisting  of  the  rector,  and  a  fixed  num- 
ber of  his  lay  parishioners,  has  come  to  possess 
very  considerable  powers.  Its  members  are  usu- 
ally charged  with  the  care  of  their  local  church 
affairs  and  all  its  property.  When  a  legal  cor- 
poration (as  is  commonly  the  case),  their  lawfully 
official  acts  are  held  to  be  binding  upon  such  cor- 
poration. Their  duties  are  many,  but  their  most 
important  duty,  from  every  point  of  view,  is  in 
the  selection  of  a  clergyman  to  be  the  rector  of 
their  parish  and  the  head  of  their  own  body, 
whenever  there  is  a  vacancy.  The  vestry,  how- 
ever, is  seldom  a  close  corporation :  its  members 
are  not  autocrats.  They  are  usually  elected  an- 
nually by  the  Parishioners ;  and  once  a  year,  at 
or  about  Easter,  at  least  half  of  them  must  retire 
voluntarily,  or  be  voted  out  of  the  vestry  itself, 
even  if,  as  often  happens,  the  parishioners  imme- 
diately vote  them  in  again. 

Very  interesting  is  it  here  to  note,  that  our 
American  system  of  Church  appointments  is 
practically  a  modern  application  of  a  custom 
which  is  not  only  at  once  the  most  extensive  and 


134  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

the  most  ancient  of  all  forms  of  such  appoint- 
ments in  England,  but  is,  of  all  others,  that  one 
which  is  thought,  and  rightly  thought,  to  be 
utterly  out  of  harmony  with  nineteenth  century 
ideas  and  progress.  We  mean  what  is  known  as 
private  "  patronage."  To  American  Churchmen 
it  is  theoretically  incomprehensible  that  any  one 
man  should  have  the  power  or,  even  if  legally 
possessed  of  it,  be  willing  to  exercise  the  right, 
of  autocratically  choosing  a  clergyman  on  his  own 
responsibility  for  a  whole  congregation.  Yet  the 
origin  of  the  right  was  both  natural  and  simple. 
For  this,  however,  we  must  look  far  back  to  the 
days  of  early  Saxon  Christianity.  At  that  time, 
throughout  immense  tracts,  there  were  no  actu- 
ally resident  clergy.  It  was  the  era  of  missionary 
work ;  not  yet  the  era  of  settled  and  parochial 
activity.  All  offerings  were  paid  into  a  central 
fund  administered  by  the  bishop,  the  clergy  lived 
for  the  most  part  in  monastic  communities,  and 
there  was  no  ready  supply  of  local  needs.  It 
was  not  at  all  a  satisfactory  plan,  and  we  owe  its 
abolition  to  Archbishop  Theodore,  the  first  Pri- 
mate of  all  England.  That  Archbishop  sought  to 
map  out  England  into  distinct  parishes,  and  to 
provide  a  local  pastor  for  every  parish  ;  and  for 


THE    HUMAN    ORGANIZATION  1 35 

this  he  laid  foundations  like  a  wise  master-build- 
er. He  urged  the  local  land-owners  to  contrib- 
ute to  special  funds  for  the  settling  of  a  resident 
pastor  there  among  them.  He  yet  further  en- 
couraged "  the  rich  in  this  w^orld  to  be  ready  to 
give  and  glad  to  contribute,"  by  causing  a  na- 
tional law  to  be  enacted  that  any  one  who  should 
build  a  Church  and  make  permanent  provision 
for  a  local  priest,  should  have  the  privilege  of 
selecting  that  priest ;  the  same  privilege  to  de- 
scend to  his  heirs  after  him. 

This  plan  so  far  succeeded  that  endowments 
and  private  patrons  came  in  together  on  the 
flood-tide,  until  to-day  there  are  6,500  such  Par- 
ishes out  of  a  grand  total  of  21,400  in  all  England. 
This  system  in  the  past  worked  great  good,  un- 
told good,  and  it  has  not  been  the  least  of  the 
blessings  the  first  Primate  of  all  England  be- 
queathed to  the  national  Church  of  his  adopted 
land.  It  has  still  its  advantages,  but  it  is  now 
too  manifestly  out  of  harmony  with  present 
thought  to  be  seriously  defended.  To  us,  how- 
ever, it  is  chiefly  interesting  as  containing  the 
germ  of  our  own  plan  of  filling  vacant  parishes. 
In  America  our  vestries  continue  to  select  the 
rectors,  as  we  have  said,  yet  only  on  behalf  of 


136  IN   THE    HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

the  parishioners,  as  their  deputies  and  in  their 
names ;  and  these  parishioners  not  unnaturally 
think  that,  since  they  have  built  a  Church  and 
made  provision  for  a  rector,  they  may,  subject  to 
the  bishop's  approval,  rightly  make  their  own  se- 
lection of  him  from  the  ranks  of  the  clergy. 

Wheresoever  the  Church  exists  she  is  usually 
divided  into  dioceses  :  ''Ecclesiastical  divisions" 
these  "  of  any  kingdom  or  state,  subject  to  the  au- 
thority of  a  bishop,"  who  is  entrusted  with  the 
spiritual  supervision  of  all  the  churches  within 
the  limits  of  his  diocese  or  division.  From  the 
fact  that  each  bishop  used  to  have  his  ''  cathe- 
dra," or  chair,  in  some  leading  church  of  his 
diocese,  such  church  is  for  that  reason  most 
commonly  called  the  cathedral,  and  not  infre- 
quently "  the  Bishop's  Church."  But  in  a  very 
real  sense  all  the  churches  within  his  diocese  may 
be  so  called,  since  daily  upon  him,  as  once  upon 
S.  Paul,  comes  the  care  of  them  all. 

A  bishop  has  no  local  jurisdiction  outside  of 
his  own  diocese  ;  any  more  than  has  a  priest  out- 
side of  his  own  parish, — but  within  it  he  is  su- 
preme. Unlike  the  priest,  he  has  no  ecclesias- 
tical superior.     Nevertheless  he  is  bishop  to  his 


THE   HUMAN   ORGANIZATION  1 37 

diocese  merely.      There   is  nothing   new  in  this 
territorial  limitation  of  his  powers.     Thus  was  S. 
James,    Bishop    of  Jerusalem.      Thus,    too,   was 
Timothy,  Bishop  of  Ephesus  ;  and  Titus,  Bishop 
of  Crete.     Yet  at  first,  this  custom   was  not  uni- 
versal.    The   Celtic   Church,    which   established 
Christianity  in    Ireland  and   Scotland,  and  from 
which  our  own  is  in  part  descended,  knew  no  such 
custom.     Instead  of  a   diocesan  episcopacy,  that 
Church  had,  as  we  have  already  said,  a  system 
by  which  bishops  and  clerg)^  lived  in  communi- 
ties as   head-quarters  of  a  common   work,  from 
whence  they  literally   went  everywhere  preach- 
ing the  word.     The    so-called  episcopate    in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is  organized  appar- 
ently much  upon  the  same  plan.     Without  a  ter- 
ritorial diocese,  or  any  local  responsibility,  these 
Methodist  ''bishops"  seem  to  be  some  counter- 
part of  the   old  Celtic  bishops,  yet  lacking  the 
essential  apostolic  succession.     It  is  in  the  Holy 
Catholic    Church   that    to-day    diocesan    episco- 
pacy alone  exists.^     There  are,  it  is  true,  many 
bishops  in  our  own  church  no  longer  ruling  over 

1  We  are  not  unaware  of  the  Roman  practice  of  making  bishops  with- 
out actual  Dioceses,  but  even  in  their  case  the  theory  is  that  each  has  a 
diocese  somewhere  ;  e.g. ,  Archbishop  Satolh  is  siy/ed  the  Bishop  of  Le- 
panto. 


138  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

dioceses,  commonly  those  who  through  sickness 
or  age  have  resigned  them  ;  but  they  are  bishops 
still — once  a  bishop,  always  a  bishop.  They  are 
as  retired  colonels  without  regiments ;  retired 
captains  without  ships.  Their  orders  are  still 
valid,  their  record  is  still  honorable,  their  title 
untouched,  their  inherent  powers  what  they  ever 
Avere ;  but  yet  the}^  may  no  more  claim  to  exer- 
cise their  powers  in  another  bishop's  diocese  than 
a  retired  sea  captain  can  claim  the  right  to  com- 
mand the  particular  ship  in  which  he  may  happen 
to  be  travelling.  Thus  they  are  bishops  without 
bishoprics,  yet  bishops  still,  and  such  they  will  be 
until  death. 

A  diocese,  which  is  thus  the  sphere  and  area  of 
a  single  bishop's  work,  may  embrace  a  continent, 
or  may  be  as  small  as  some  islet  of  the  sea.  In 
the  United  States  this  disparity  in  size  is  perhaps 
more  observable  than  anywhere  else ;  still,  by 
canon  law  "  no  new  Diocese  can  be  formed  here 
which  shall  contain  less  than  six  Parishes  or  less 
than  six  Presbyters."  ^  There  is,  however,  no 
legislative  limit  in  the  other  direction.  The  Dio- 
cese of  New  York  contained  in  1894  366  Clergy  ; 
it  might  conceivably  contain  1,000. 

1  Const.,  p.  3. 


THE   HUMAN   ORGANIZATION  1 39 

In  England  and  her  Colonies  there  is  no  limit 
at  all.  The  Island  of  St.  Helena  has  but  three 
Clergy  under  the  bishop  of  "  the  smallest  Diocese 
in  the  world." 

The  diocese  is  a  complete  and  integral  part  of 
the  Church  of  Christ.  In  America  we  have  over 
seventy,  and  these  so  entirely  cover  the  face  of 
the  country  that  there  is  no  portion  of  it  not  under 
the  care  of  a  bishop.  Everywhere  the  Church 
has  gone,  to  the  full  measure  of  her  ability,  form- 
ing her  dioceses,  placing  he*-  bishops  and  build- 
ing her  churches,  and  tendering  the  blessings  of 
the  Gospel  to  all.  Her  offers  may  be  indeed  re- 
jected as  involving  the  unpardonable  assumption 
that  she  is  the  Church,  yet  she  is  there  for  all  who 
will  receive  her,  seeking,  however  feebly,  to  emu- 
late the  great  Father  Himself,  ''for  he  maketh 
his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and 
sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust."  ^ 

The  diocese  is  governed  by  a  council.^  This  is 
a  body  somewhat  analogous  to  the  vestry.  It 
meets  usually  but  once  a  year,  its  members  be- 
ing composed  of  the  bishop,  the  clergy,  and 
certain  la3^men  chosen  by  their  respective  par- 
ishes,   one    for    every    clergyman.     The    bishop 

1  Matt.  V.  45.  2  Or  convention. 


I40  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

always  presides.  The  objects  of  the  council  have 
in  part  been  so  clearly  stated  by  the  present 
Bishop  of  Fond  du  Lac  that  we  do  not  hesitate  to 
use  his  language.  Its  members  ''assemble  first  of 
all,  to  offer  up  high  praise  and  Eucharist  to  God 
for  His  manifold  blessings  vouchsafed  to  them, 
and  to  beseech  His  Majesty  for  some  further 
largeness  of  His  bounty,  some  charismata  of  His 
gifts  of  grace.  It  is,  therefore,  with  special  sol- 
emnity and  careful  ceremonial  and  musical  ac- 
companiment we  celebrate  the  divine  mysteries. 
The  conciliar  celebration  is  not  therefore  to  be 
regarded  as  a  mere  appropriate  opening  religious 
service  to  the  more  important  business  exercises. 
It  is  one  of  the  chief  purposes  of  our  assembling. 
It  is  one  of  the  highest  works  of  the  council.  It 
is  the  coming  together  of  all  the  presbytery 
and  representative  laymen  to  make  their  united 
solemn  Eucharistic  offering  to  Almighty  God."  ^ 

The  more  practical  duties  of  the  Council  are  the 
framing  of  the  canons  and  laws,  and  the  taking 
of  measures  for  the  general  welfare  of  all  the 
churches  and  of  all  the  souls  within  the  diocesan 
limits.  Its  goal  is  the  filling  of  the  Father's  house 
with  those  who  are  yet  in  the  streets  of  the  city, 

1  Charge  of  Bishop  Grafton,  1894. 


THE   HUMAN   ORGANIZATION  141 

and  in  the  lanes  and  high\va3^s  of  the  great  world 
around.  It  stands  for  all  organized  effort  of 
the  Church  over  that  special  part  of  the  vine- 
yard. 

Where  dioceses  are  so  large  as  to  render  some 
intermediate  organization  necessary  between  the 
diocese  and  the  parish,  the  necessary  link  has,  of 
late  years,  been  often  supplied  by  what  are  called 
indifferently  deaneries,  archdeaconries,  and  con- 
vocations, a  different  nomenclature  obtaining  in 
different  places  for  the  same  thing.  Thus  what 
is  a  Convocation  in  Pennsylvania  and  a  Deanery 
in  Western  New  York,  with  a  dean  as  its  head  in 
each  case,  is  in  New  York  City  and  Diocese  an 
Archdeaconry,  with  an  archdeacon  as  its  head. 
It  is  the  same  in  Maryland. 

The  terms  Rural  Dean  and  Archdeacon,  which 
have  reference  to  these  intermediate  forms  of  or- 
ganization, are  somevv^hat  similar  to  those  of 
canon,  rector,  and  the  like.  They  do  not,  that  is, 
indicate  the  existence  of  another  order  in  the 
ministry ;  the  divine  constitution  of  the  Church 
knowing  only  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons. 
They  are  but  officers  for  the  better  administra- 
tion of  the  local  affairs  of  the  Church,  admission 
to  their  office   being  not  by  ordination,  but   by 


142  IN   THE    HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

simple  appointment  of  the  bishop  or  some  prop- 
erly organized  and  representative  ecclesiastical 
body ;  they  are  parts,  that  is,  of  the  organization 
of  the  diocese.  Their  special  task  is  the  caring 
for  the  missionary  work  within  diocesan  limits, 
and  in  this  they  have  abundantly  justified  their 
existence. 

Although  such  officers  are  somewhat  new  in  the 
American  Church,  they  are  by  no  means  new  in 
the  Church  at  large.  Athanasius  won  his  fame 
not  as  Patriarch,  but  as  Archdeacon  of  Alexan- 
dria. They  have  existed,  too,  for  ages  in  the 
Church  of  England  ;  but  if  one  may  credit  the 
story  oft  told  of  the  late  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bur}^  that  being  on  one  occasion  asked  what  an 
archdeacon's  duties  were,  he  humorously  replied 
**  That  they  were  to  perform  archdiaconal  func- 
tions," it  would  seem  as  if  these  venerable  officials 
were  at  times  like  what  a  coat  of  paint  would  be 
on  the  exterior  of  a  magnificent  Gothic  Cathe- 
dral, if  it  be  possible  to  imagine  such  a  thing. 

In  this  countr)^  however,  they  have  been  as- 
signed definite  duties,  with  altogether  encourag- 
ing results.  The  Bishop  of  New  York,  in  speak- 
ing at  the  one  hundred  and  tenth  ^  Convocation 

*  September  27,  1893. 


THE    HUMAN   ORGANIZATION  143 

of  his  diocese,  on  the  Canon  creating  archdea- 
cons some  ten  years  before,  said  that  at  the  time 
but  little  or  nothing  was  expected  from  it  by 
many.  It  was  regarded  as  an  archaic  mechanism, 
foreign,  superannuated,  and  rather  unduly  preten- 
tious.  ''  But,"  he  went  on  to  say,  ''  I  am  persuaded 
that  by  this  time  such  persons  are,  most  of  them, 
of  another  mind.  No  one  who  has  acquainted 
himself  with  it  can  be  insensible  to  the  greatly 
increased  efficiency  of  our  missionary  work  all 
over  the  Diocese,  as  witnessed  increasingly  by  its 
fruit.  That  this  is  due  first  to  the  fidelity  of  our 
missionaries,  and  of  loyal  laymen  and  women  who 
labor  with  them,  there  can  be  little  doubt ;  but 
that  these  labors  have  been  guided,  encouraged, 
economized,  and  in  every  way  wisely  administered, 
with  most  important  and  inspiring  results,  by  my 
dear  brethren,  the  Archdeacons  of  the  Diocese — 
of  this  there  can  be  no  doubt  at  all.  They  have 
strengthened  the  hands  of  every  missionary  ;  they 
have  cheered  the  hearts  of  the  lonely  and  strug- 
gling lay  people ;  they  have  seized  opportunities, 
and  laid  foundations,  and  filled  vacancies,  and 
found  fellow-workers ;  they  have  checked  waste- 
fulness and  economized  men  and  means ;  they 
have  lifted  the  standard  of  discipline,  and  widened 


144  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

the  reach  of  the  Church's  work  and  influence  in 
ways  which  it  now  has  come  to  pass  that  all  men 
know  and  own."  Evidently,  archdeacons  have 
here  more  than  justified  their  existence,  and  some 
future  Primate  of  America  will  not  have  the 
knotty  problem  to  solve  which  tried  the  wit  of  his 
Grace  of  Canterbury. 

When  a  group  of  Dioceses  are  allied  together  a 
Province  is  formed ;  this  being  simply  an  aggre- 
gate of  Dioceses  for  legislative  purposes  within 
the  limits  of  a  National  Church.  The  chief  bishop 
of  every  Province  is  generally  st34ed  Archbishop 
and  Primate,  or  simply  Primus.  Of  these  Pro- 
vinces there  are  several  in  the  Anglo-Catholic 
Church.  England  contains  two,  those  of  Canter- 
bury and  York ;  Ireland  two,  Armagh  and  Dub- 
lin ;  Canada  two,  Canada  and  Rupert's  Land. 
It  is  proposed  to  create  similar  Provinces  in 
Australia,  New  Zealand,  South  Africa,  and  India, 
with  Archbishops  at  Sydne}^  Cape  Town,  and 
Calcutta,  and  possibly  also  at  Melbourne  and 
Brisbane.  The  American  Church  has,  properly 
speaking,  no  Provinces.  But  in  this  matter  she 
too  seems  to  be  moving  in  the  same  direction  as 
her  sister  Churches.  "  It  is  significant,"  wrote  the 
late  Dr.  John  Cotton  Smith,  ''  that  there  has  been 


THE   HUMAN   ORGANIZATION  145 

a  sfradual  movement  in  the  Church  which  has  in 
it  the  germs  of  the  provincial  system." 

If  needed  anywhere  in  the  whole  world,  the 
provincial  system  is  certainly  needed  in  America. 
The  two  Provinces  of  the  Canadian  Church,  only 
consolidated  in  1893,  contain,  the  one  but  nine,  the 
other  but  seven,  dioceses.  Even  the  Province  of 
Canterbury,  the  premier  province  of  the  Anglican 
Church,  contains  but  twenty-three ;  yet  the  juris- 
diction of  the  American  Church,  covering  a  conti- 
nent larger  than  Europe,  has  no  Provinces  at  all !  ' 

This  grouping  together  of  contiguous  dioceses 
which  shall  not  be  too  large  for  common  effective 
legislation,  has  therefore  now  become  one  of  our 
greatest  needs.  So  vast,  indeed,  is  the  area  of 
this  Church's  operations  that  if  relief  be  not  af- 
forded there  is  some  danger  of  the  net  breaking. 
As  matters  stand,  bishops  on  the  Pacific  slope 
are  too  far  from  their  brother  bishops  on  the  At- 
lantic seaboard  for  any  common  legislation  to  be 
equally  helpful.  It  would,  of  course,  be  different 
in  a  Church  which  had  but  half  a  dozen  bishops, 
but  in  one  which  possesses  fourscore,  the  Prov- 
ince must  come  if  the  government  of  the  Church 
is  to  be  anything  more  than  a  name. 

And  if  this  be  the   case  now,  what  will  it  be 


146  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

fifty  years  hence  ?  We  can  but  prophesy,  though 
not  altogether  blindly.  A  moment's  considera- 
tion will  show  that  if  the  future  growth  of  this 
Church  shall  be  as  its  past,  then  something  akin 
to  our  civil  organization  must  be  the  result.  As 
well  might  American  citizens  attempt  to  dispense 
with  the  system  of  Statehood  as  for  the  Church 
to  dispense  with  the  Province.  Just  think  what, 
in  half  a  century,  say,  Texas  will  be  ?  That 
State  has  now  265,780  square  miles  of  territory  ; 
more  than  all  the  New  England  Dioceses,  com- 
bined together,  contain  many  times  over.  It  is 
safe  to  say  that  before  that  time  she  will  have 
been  divided  into  several  Dioceses.  But  Texas 
stands  not  alone.  Growth  is  universal.  The 
Church  cannot,  therefore,  long  postpone  action  if 
she  would  ;  and  it  may  be  that,  ere  the  first  quar- 
ter of  the  twentieth  century  has  run  its  course, 
the  Bishops  of  such  cities  as  Boston,  New  York, 
Chicago,  San  Francisco,  and  New  Orleans,  will 
attend  that  Conference  as  Metropolitans  of  the 
American  Church,  with  a  Primate  of  all  America 
at  their  head,  all  looking  to  Canterbury  as  their 
Patriarchal  See,  and  bound  to  it,  not  by  the  iron 
chains  of  Ultramontanism,  but  by  the  golden 
links  of  freedom  and  affection. 


THE   HUMAN   ORGANIZATION  147 

Nor  is  all  this  tending  toward  the  establish- 
ment of  a  head  after  the  model  of  Rome.  The 
Primate  of  the  Anglican  Communion  claims  no 
such  dangerous  pre-eminence.  His  type  is  not 
the  Czar  of  all  the  Russias,  but  the  head  of  a 
Constitutional  Government.  For  us  the  true 
head  is  Christ  alone.  We  need  not  be  afraid, 
therefore,  of  such  titles  as  Archbishop,  or  Pri- 
mate. They  merely  indicate  chiefs  among  equals. 
They  who  are  ex-officio  the  chairmen  at  the  gath- 
erings of  their  brethren,  their  spokesmen,  and 
they  who  take  the  initiative  in  united  effort.  But 
they  are  of  no  higher  order  than  the  youngest 
member  of  the  episcopate,  who  is  as  much  a 
bishop  as  the  Bishop  of  Rome  or  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury.^ 

What  the  Diocesan  Council  is  to  the  diocese, 
that  the  National  Council  ~  is  to  the  Church  at 
large.  This  body  consists  of  two  Houses  :  The 
Upper,  or  House  of  Bishops,  in  which  all  Dio- 
cesan, Missionary,  and  Coadjutor  Bishops  have 
seats  ;  and  the  House  of  Deputies,  made  up  of 

1  "  Wherever  there  is  a  Bishop,  whether  it  be  at  Rome,  or  at  Eugu- 
bium,  whether  it  be  at  Constantinople  or  at  Rhegium,  whether  it  be  at 
Alexandria  or  at  Zoan,  his  dignity  is  one,  and  his  priesthood  is  one. 
...     All  alike  are  successors  of  the  Apostles."     S.  Jerome,  a.d.  393. 

2  Or  General  Convention. 


148  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

elected  Deputies,  four  clerical  and  four  lay  from 
every  diocese,  and  one  delegate  of  each  order 
from  every  missionary  jurisdiction.  Its  powers 
are  very  extensive.  It  represents  the  National 
Church  in  session  assembled,  and  its  judgment  is 
final  in  all  matters  affecting  that  Church.  Its  two 
Houses  meet  separately,  and  no  act  is  valid  with- 
out the  concurrence  of  both.  Such  matters  as 
the  alteration  of  the  Prayer-Book,  the  setting 
forth  of  new  services,  the  selection  of  hymns  to 
be  sung,  the  founding  of  new  dioceses,  the  altera- 
tion of  the  bounds  of  old  ones,  arc  all  the  work 
of  the  National  Council  ;  which  for  unique  inter- 
est takes  its  place  among  the  greatest  legislative 
bodies  of  the  world.  Indeed,  membership  in  this 
august  body  is,  rightly  considered,  one  of  the 
highest  honors  that  the  American  Church  can 
confer  on  her  laity  or  clergy.  In  fine,  the  work 
of  this  Council  is  the  same  as  that  in  Avhich  the 
Apostles  of  the  Lord  themselves  engaged  when 
they  met  in  the  first  Council  ever  held. 

But  the  American  Church  is  infinitely  larger 
than  the  Church  of  Apostles  which  met  at  Jeru- 
salem. One  realizes  this  on  seeing  the  delegates 
come  up  from  the  ends  of  this  vast  Continent. 
Their  assembling  together  is  an  imposing  sight. 


THE    HUMAN   ORGANIZATION  149 

Yet,  as  now  constituted,  the  National  Council 
must  go.  Its  day  is  past ;  its  place  will  prob- 
ably be  taken  by  a  body  meeting  not  oftener  than 
once  in  ten  years,  as  the  Pan-Anglican  Confer- 
ence meets  now,  and  composed  of  only  the  Pri- 
mates of  Provinces,  with  certain  elected  Bish- 
ops, or  it  may  be,  of  all  the  Bishops  of  the 
American  Church,  with  or  without,  as  the  wis- 
dom of  the  Church  shall  decide,  a  small  body  of 
chosen  clerical  and  lay  delegates  as  a  second 
House. 

Oh,  may  this  great  Church,  a  true  National 
Church,  whose  Constitution  is  in  striking  har- 
mony with  that  of  the  land  in  which  she  dwells 
*'  look  forth  as  the  morning,  fair  as  the  moon, 
clear  as  the  sun,  and  terrible  as  an  army  with 
banners ! "  ^  May  every  blessing  spoken  to  the 
seven  Churches  of  Asia  be  hers,  and  may  she 
need  none  of  the  warnings.  May  it  be  said  of 
her,  ''  The  Lord  added  to  the  church  daily  such 
as  should  be  saved."  ^  She  is  not  unworthy  of 
the  honor,  she  is  no  fragment,  but  the  Church  of 
and  for  the  American  people. 

For  this,  whenever  she  is  in  session  assembled, 

1  Song  of  Solomon  vi,  10. 

2  Acts  ii.  47. 


150  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

and  at  other  times  as  God  gives  us  power  and 
grace,  well  may  we  pray  in  the  words  of  our 
Prayer-Book : 

"  Almighty  and  everlasting  God,  who  by  thy 
Holy  Spirit  didst  preside  in  the  Council  of  the 
blessed  Apostles,  and  hast  promised,  through 
thy  Son  Jesus  Christ,  to  be  with  thy  Church  to 
the  end  of  the  world ;  We  beseech  thee  to  be 
with  the  Council  of  thy  Church  assembled  in  thy 
Name  and  Presence.  Save  them  from  all  error, 
ignorance,  pride,  and  prejudice ;  and  of  thy  great 
mercy  vouchsafe,  we  beseech  thee,  so  to  direct, 
sanctify,  and  govern  them  in  their  Avork,  by  the 
mighty  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  the  com- 
fortable Gospel  of  Christ  may  be  truly  preached, 
truly  received,  and  truly  followed,  in  all  places, 
to  the  breaking  down  the  kingdom  of  sin,  Satan, 
and  death ;  till  at  length  the  whole  of  thy  dis- 
persed sheep,  being  gathered  into  one  fold,  shall 
become  partakers  of  everlasting  life ;  through  the 
merits  and  death  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour. 
Amen. 


IX. 


CAUSES  OF  THE  GREAT  PROGRESS  OF 
THE  CHURCH 


IX. 


CAUSES  OF  THE  GREAT  PROGRESS  OF 
THE  CHURCH 

"  The  force  of  his  own  merit  makes  his  way." 

— HeNx^y  VIII.,  Act  I.,  So.  I. 

Our  Church  in  America  is  growing  more  rap- 
idly than  any  other  member  of  the  Catholic  Fam- 
ily. She  stands  facile  princeps,  easily  first.  Her 
growth  has  been  so  remarkable  that  there  is 
probably  not  another  religious  body  which  has 
within  the  past  half  century  gone  forward  as  she 
has.  Indeed,  her  advance  has  been  phenomenal. 
It  has  been  at  once  the  wonder  of  the  indifferent, 
the  envy  of  the  unfriendly,^  and  the  joy  of  her 
faithful  children. 

1  "  And  what  is  still  more  remarkable  is  that  the  movement  has  been 
stronger  than  the  rankest  Protestantism,  stronger  than  the  Bishops, 
stronger  than  the  lawyers  and  the  Legislature.  A  spasmodic  protest,  a 
useless  prosecution,  a  Delphic  judgment,  and  the  movement  continues 
and  spreads,  lodging  itself  in  Anglican  homes  and  convents,  in  schools, 
Churches,  and  even  Cathedrals,  until  it  is  rapidly  covering  the  country. 
Has  there  ever  been  a  more  marvellous  change,  and  this  within  half  a 
century  !  " — Vide  Address  by  Cardinal  Vaughan  to  the  Catholic  Truth 
Society  Conference,  at  Preston,  England,  September  lo,  1894. 


154  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

Her  extraordinary  growth  suggests  and  even 
necessitates  the  inquiry  as  to  what  is  its  cause. 
The  primary  cause  is  simply  that  she  is  the 
Church  of  Christ.  So  long  as  the  Church  is  true 
to  Christ  and  relies  on  him,  she  must  grow  and 
prosper. 

Students  of  Gibbon's  "  Decline  and  Fall  "  will 
remember  the  five  famous  secondary  reasons 
which  he  assigns  for  the  spread  of  Christianity. 
Have  we  anything  in  a  similar  way  to  assign 
as  the  cause  of  the  rapid  progress  of  our  dear 
Church  ? 

This  is  our  present  inquiry.  To  what  is  her 
onward  advance  due  ?  In  truth,  there  is  no  one 
cause,  there  are  many  causes,  like  the  links  of  a 
mighty  chain. 

(i)  We  name  first  the  clearing  away  of  misun- 
derstandings, by  which  she  has  become  better 
known,  more  appreciated,  and,  if  not  revered  and 
loved,  at  least  esteemed  and  respected. 

She  was  long  thought  of  as  merely  a  foreign 
Church.  She  is  now  acknowledged  to  be  foreign 
only  in  the  sense  in  which  outside  of  the  Holy 
Land  all  Christian  Churches  are  foreign:  for 
Jerusalem  is  the  Mother  of  us  all. 

Of   course  there   is   a   sense  in  which  we   can 


CAUSES   OF   PROGRESS  1 55 

rightly  speak  of  a  Church  as  "  foreign."  There 
is,  e.g-.,  in  our  midst  a  Church  organization  to 
which  no  other  name  can  properly  be  given. 
That  particular  organization  is,  in  fact,  nothing 
but  a  fragment  of  the  national  Church  of  Italy, 
whose  alien  character  is  suitably  represented  by 
an  Italian  Bishop,  who  came  here  unable  to  speak 
the  English  language.' 

But  it  is  not  so  with  us.  Men  no  longer  doubt 
that  our  Church  is  in  perfect  sympathy  with 
American  institutions  and  with  American  ideals. 
That  was  a  striking  scene  when  in  Baltimore,  in 
1892,  by  the  voice  of  her  Supreme  Legislative 
Council,  she  voluntarily  relinquished  some  $25,000 
per  annum  and  all  claims  on  Government  aid  for 

1  Touching  this  Itahan  Bishop,  the  Living  Church  of  January  26, 
1895,  gives  us  the  following  choice  description  :  "  Mgr.  Satolli,  on  a  visit 
to  New  York,  took  occasion,  at  a  reception  given  in  his  honor  at  the  La 
Salle  Institute,  to  define  the  attitude  of  the  Roman  Church  to  the  public 
schools  of  the  country.  The  speech  was,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  read  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Rooker,  while  Mgr.  Satolli  supplied  the  fitting  gestures  !  They 
are  described  as  'appropriate  and  often  forceful.'  The  only  parallel 
instance  we  ever  heard  of  was  the  case  of  a  man  who  suddenly  became 
crazed  during  a  sermon,  and,  advancing  to  the  front  of  the  church,  sta- 
tioned himself  just  below  the  pulpit,  and  endeavored  by  his  gesticula- 
tions to  supply  what  he  considered  to  be  lacking  in  the  preacher's  style 
of  delivery.  The  Italians  are  said  to  be  masters  of  the  art  of  gesture. 
Instances  have  been  described  where  an  entire  speech  was  made  per- 
fectly intelligible  in  this  way  to  those  who  did  not  understand  a  word 
of  the  language.  The  Roman  delegate  might  very  well  have  dispensed 
with  the  services  of  the  reader  altogether." 


156  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

her  Indian  school  work.  It  was  not  that  she  did 
not  need  the  money.  But  she  had  come  to  look 
upon  the  receiving  of  money  from  the  Public 
Funds  as  contrary  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the 
American  Constitution,  and  her  dut}^  was  plain. 
She  withdrew  from  the  ranks  of  the  benefici- 
aries, leaving  it  to  other  Christian  bodies  less  in 
harmony  with  American  ideals  than  herself,  to 
scramble  for  the  spoils  and  to  eat  of  the  Govern- 
ment bread  !  ^  Ever  mindful  of  the  duty  to  pray 
for  rulers,  this  is  her  method  by  which  she  up- 
holds them  and  points  them  to  their  own  stand- 
ard, and  so  furthers  the  fulfilment  of  her  own 
prayers. 

Nor  has  this  been  any  late  burst  of  loyalty  out 
of  harmony  with  her  past.  We  indeed  marvel 
greatly  that  she  has  ever  been  regarded  as  foreign; 
for  from  the  days  of  Washington  to  this  day  her 
sons  have  been  the  famous  statesmen  and  leaders 
of  the  American  people.  Of  the  fifty-five  signers 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  over  thirty- 
four  were  Churchmen,  one  only  we  believe  a 
Roman  Catholic.^ 

1  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  takes  nearly  one-half  million  dollars 
out  of  the  treasury.     Quarterly  Message,  vol.  ii.,  No.  4,  p.  32. 

3"  Of  the  fifty-five  actual  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
thirty-four  were  Churchmen  ;  while  at  least  seven  other  Churchmen,  eli- 


CAUSES   OF   PROGRESS  157 

(2)  Her  Reverent,  Dignified,  and  Sensible 
Services. — Often  do  we  hear  something  like  the 
following  :  "  I  don't  like  3^our  doctrine  of  Apos- 
tolic Succession,  nor  your  views  on  Baptism,  nor 
your  exclusiveness,  but  I  do  like  your  Services. 
They  are  so  helpful  and  inspiring,  so  congrega- 
tional, and  so  sweetly  reasonable."  This  admits 
not  of  question  or  dispute.  The  denominations 
are  beginning  to  pay  us  the  highest  compliment 
in  their  power,  by  copying  our  Services.  They 
already  have  antiphonal  singing,  say  our  Creed, 
sing  our  Glorias,  and  have  processionals.  What 
they  will  do  next,  who  dare  say  ?  We  are  not 
sure  that  this  is  the  best  thing  for  them.  Lately 
there  was  a  sort  of  funeral  dirge  over  Methodism 
in  London  by  one  who  claimed  to  have  thirty 
years  experience  in  that  city.  "  I  afhrm,"  said 
he,  "  that  the  leakage  is  a  serious  one.  Metropoli- 
tan Methodism  is  losing  its  young  men  and  young 
women.  Where  are  they  going,  and  why  ?  They 
are  going  to  the  Church.  Our  liturgical  services, 
with  their    choir-sung  chants   and   their  intoned 

gible  as  signers  by  their  votes  in  July,  or  by  their  membership  of  the 
Congress  in  August,  were  providentially  hindered  from  giving  their  sig- 
natures, as  they  had  recorded  their  votes,  for  the  Declaration.  Twelve 
of  the  signers  were  Congregationalists  ;  four  were  Presbyterians  ;  three 
were  Quakers  ;  one  was  a  Baptist,  and  one  was  a  Roman  Catholic." — 
Bishop  Perry,  in  Iowa  Churchman,  May,  1893. 


1 58  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

amens  are  training  our  sons  and  daughters  to 
chafe  at  the  simpler  forms  of  worship,  and  send- 
ing them  where  this  kind  of  thing  is  better  done."  ^ 
Onl}^  the  other  day,  in  the  North  of  England,  ''  the 
grandest  Non-conformist  church  in  Europe,  and 
one  of  the  finest  and  most  completely  ecclesias- 
tical buildings  reared  in  our  time,"  was  opened. 
Admiring  descriptions  were  given  of  "  the  chan- 
cel, with  its  marble  pulpit  and  baptistery,  carved 
oak  choir-stall,  grand  organ,  elaborately  carved 
panels  of  alabaster,  and  three  beautiful  lancet  win- 
dows." A  great  change  this  from  the  days  of  Puri- 
tan simplicity,  when  the  presence  of  such  things 
in  the  Church  of  England  was  one  of  the  principal 
counts  in  the  indictment  against  her — the  days 
when  the  founders  of  Non-conformity  set  out  to 
break  up  organs  and  smash  beautiful  windows, 
''to  break  down  all  the  carved  work  thereof  with 
axes  and  hammers,"  and  to  convert  baptismal 
fonts  into  garden  -  vases  and  horse  -  troughs  ! 
Plainly  even  Puritanism  no  longer  puts  its  ban 
upon  the  beautiful  in  public  worship,  having 
learned  that  it  might  as  well  try  ''  to  keep  down 
the  rising  tide  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  with  a 
broom,    as    try    to    stop    the    movement    for    in- 

'  Church  Bells,  p.  996,  November  16,  1894. 


CAUSES   OF   PROGRESS  I  59 

creasing   the   glory  and    beauty  of   public   wor- 
ship." 

But  it  is  not  only  brighter  and  more  devoted 
Services  which  is  the  object  of  their  search  who 
come  from  them  to  us.  They  are  craving  union 
with  that  grand  old  historic  Church  which  existed 
ages  before  their  own  began  to  be.  Yet  undoubt- 
edly the  statement  is  true  in  part.  Our  nature 
craves  something  more  than  there  is  in  a  bald 
and  frigid  service,  and  they  are  unable  to  read 
the  signs  of  the  times  who  fail  to  appreciate  this. 
It  was  indeed  one  of  themselves,  a  prophet  of 
their  own,  who  said,  ''  It  is  not  always  social  fash- 
ion, love  of  music,  or  a  languid  admiration  of  ec- 
clesiastical performances  that  takes  some  of  our 
best  young  people  to  the  Episcopal  Communion, 
but  the  need  of  more  helpful  and  satisfying  wor- 
ship than  can  be  found  in  most  non-Episcopal 
Churches."  ^  Nowhere  is  this  seen  to  such  an 
extent  as  in  the  ''  Auld  Kirk  "  of  Scotland,  where 
we  find  not  only  the  organs,  the  stained-glass  win- 
dows, the  elaborate  music,  and  the  Gothic  archi- 
tecture, where  they  were  formed}^  frowned  upon  ; 
but  in  many  quarters,  a  decided  advance  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  observance    of  the  Church's  Year 

1  Church  Bells,  April  6,  1894. 


l60  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

as  well  as  of  a  more  or  less  liturgical  service. 
In  one  of  the  largest  of  the  Established  churches 
in  the  city  of  Aberdeen,  there  is  daily  service; 
our  Church's  Litany  is  used  on  Fridays,  and  the 
Apostles'  Creed  and  collect  for  the  day  are  re- 
peated at  every  service.  Again,  in  the  oldest  and 
most  important  of  the  Edinburgh  churches,  S. 
Giles's  (commonly  though  erroneously  called  S. 
Giles's  Cathedral),  the  Lord's  Prayer  is  repeated 
by  the  congregation,  while  amens  and  hymns  are 
sung,  and  the  service  as  a  whole  is  such  as,  a  few 
years  ago,  no  one  would  have  dreamed  of  see- 
ing in  a  Presbyterian  kirk.  Moreover,  for  many 
years  a  society  known  as  the  Church  Service  So- 
ciety has  been  in  existence,  whose  object  is  the 
raising  of  the  character  of  the  public  worship, 
and  a  Prayer-Book  issued  by  this  society  is  now 
used  in  several  Scottish  churches. 

Thus  by  the  confession  and  the  practice  of 
those  who  differ  from  us,  our  Services,  free  from 
the  barrenness  on  the  one  hand  of  Puritanism,  and 
from  the  excesses  and  childish  performances  that 
so  quickly  turn  the  sublime  into  the  ridiculous  on 
the  other,  are  a  stronghold  of  our  Zion,  and  a 
mighty  sword  in  our  hands. 

(3)  The  Possession  of  a  Prayer-Book. — Now 


CAUSES   OF   PROGRESS  l6l 

you  will  find  our  Prayer-Book  where  a  few  3'ears 
ago  its  presence  would  have  been  as  distasteful 
as  a  scarlet  acolyte  in  a  Presbyterian  kirk,  and 
where  it  would  have  caused  a  similar  sensation. 
True,  it  is  not  always  as  ours.  But  the  old 
Church  recognizes  her  daughter  even  when  clad 
in  another  garb,  and  called  by  another  name. 
Honor  to  whom  honor  is  due.  Let  it  ring  out 
that  this  book  is  the  Church's  child  and  not  an- 
other's. A  year  or  two  ago,  in  a  Detroit  book- 
store, a  copy  of  the  Prayer-Book  lay  on  the 
counter.  Taking  it  into  his  hands,  a  young  min- 
ister turned  to  an  elder  companion,  and  said, 
'*  Look,  Dr.  so  and  so,  what  these  Episcopals  have 
done.  They  have  actually  stolen  our  Baptismal 
Service  and  put  it  into  their  Book."  "  Hush," 
said  the  elder,  "  that  was  in  their  Book  two  hun- 
dred years  before  we  were  heard  of !  "  A  former 
generation  knew  its  indebtedness :  the  present 
knows  it  not. 

Now,  observe  what  this  old  Book  is  doing. 
There  are  whole  families  coming  into  our  Church 
to-day  simply  through  its  silent  agency.  A  copy 
of  it  fallen  into  their  hands,  has  been  like  leaven. 
Before  its  quiet  teaching  prejudices  have  disap- 
peared, errors  have  been  corrected,  and  untaught 
II 


l62  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

by  priest  or  deacon,  or  even  by  lay-evangelist, 
many  have  come  to  seek  baptism  and  rest  for  their 
souls  in  the  old  Church  of  Christ.  It  is  indeed 
one  of  the  great  unifying  elements  of  our  world- 
scattered  race.  In  the  midst  of  lives  sordid  with 
constant  care  and  dark  with  the  impending 
shadow  of  want  and  the  darker  gloom  of  death, 
its  services,  attuned  to  the  note  of '  Our  Father,' 
make  for  one  brief  hour  music  and  melody,  with 
gladness  and  joy,  in  the  hearts  of  miserable  men. 
It  is  the  constant  renewed  affirmation  of  '  God's 
English-speaking  men '  of  their  faith  in  their  fa- 
ther's God.  For  hundreds  of  years  its  solemn 
words  have  embodied  all  the  highest  and  best 
thought  of  the  greatest  and  noblest,  and  doubtless 
for  many  hundred  years  to  come  the  English- 
speaking  race  Avill  find  the  expression  of  their 
hopes  and  their  aspirations  in  the  simple  but 
stately  words  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

(4)  The  Christian  Year. — Again,  of  a  like  in- 
fluence has  been  the  Christian  Year.  Order  is 
Heaven's  first  law.  It  was  well  for  the  Church 
Militant  on  earth  to  take  note  of  this.  She  has 
not  put  the  responsibility  of  teaching  the  due 
proportion  of  truth  upon  her  ministers  alone. 
She   has  assumed  that   responsibility  herself,  by 


CAUSES   OF   PROGRESS  163 

formulating  what  is  called  ''the  Christian  Year." 
Churchmen  are  so  accustomed  to  this  cycle  of 
Christian  truth  that  they  do  not  always  know 
how  great  a  blessing  it  really  is.  They  use  it, 
they  love  it,  and  even  value  it ;  but  they  do  not 
always  comprehend  how  absolutely  necessary  it 
is  for  their  souls'  progress. 

Perhaps,  as  they  see  the  denominational  bodies 
generally  adopting  first  one  part  of  it,  then  an- 
other, its  great  value  may  become  more  apparent 
to  them.  Nowada3^s  there  is  hardly  a  religious 
body  which  does  not  keep  Easter ;  and  soon  Lent 
will  be  as  universally  kept.  Yet  officially  of  Lent 
or  Easter  the  dissenting  protestant  bodies  know 
absolutely  nothing.  All  their  information  is  de- 
rived second-hand  from  the  Church. 

Well,  what  is  the  probable  end  of  any  Christian 
body  that  first  borrows  its  style  of  Services  from 
the  Church,  next  appropriates  her  Prayer-Book, 
then  peers  into  her  calendars  to  see  when  her 
Holy  Days  and  Festivals  fall,  that  she  may  observe 
them  too  ?  For  these,  at  all  events,  our  Church  is 
as  the  Hill  of  Zion,  from  whence  goes  "  forth  the 
law  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem." 

(5)  Her  Hold  on  the  Cultivated  Classes. 
— In   this  respect  our   Church   is  the  exact   op- 


l64  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

posite  of  the  Roman  Catholic.  The  members  of 
that  Church  are  drawn  largely  from  the  illiterate 
and  even  the  dangerous  element.  We  say  this 
not  unkindly.  Indeed  there  is  no  room  for  un- 
kindness.  Of  the  early  Christians  it  was  said 
that  among  them  there  were  not  many  mighty 
and  not  many  noble.  But  in  this  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, it  is  doubtless  a  serious  indictment  of  any 
Church  that  she  has  in  comparison  of  her  num- 
bers few  intellectual  men  in  her  ranks.  Among 
the  intellectual  our  Church  is  confessedly  strong. 
Her  members  furnish  no  inconsiderable  share  of 
the  refinement,  intelligence,  education,  wealth, 
and  religious  zeal  of  the  country,  so  that  she  has 
even  been  called  the  Church  of  the  classes.  Cu- 
riously enough,  this  fact  has  sometimes  been 
made  a  ground  of  argument  against  her.  It  Vv^as 
lately  said,'  "  Very  many  of  the  fashionable 
churches  are  closing  for  the  heated  term.  The 
reverend  ministers  are  going  away  to  the  sea- 
shore and  the  mountains  to  recuperate.  In  the 
meanwhile  all  the  Catholic  Churches  will  remain 
open,  every  day  in  the  year,  as  well  as  Sundays." 
Precisely.  There  is  a  fitness  in  things ;  where 
else  would  they  have  the  Clergy  than  with  their 

»  "  Pittsbure:  Catholic." 


CAUSES   OF   PROGRESS  165 

congregations?  Our  critic  is  curiously  short- 
sighted. He  reminds  us  of  a  story  told  by  one^ 
of  our  bishops:  A  member  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  was  comparing  unfavorably  our  Clergy 
with  the  Roman,  saying  that  they  were  not  as  zeal- 
ous in  the  performance  of  their  pastoral  duties. 
"  How  so?  "  said  the  bishop  ;  "  I  must  say  that  I 
had  never  observed  that  fact."  "  Why,  right  here 
in  this  paper  is  a  proof  of  it,"  said  the  Roman  ; 
''  there  is  the  account  of  a  priest  attending  a  man 
on  the  scaffold  who  Avas  about  to  die.  I  never 
heard  of  any  of  your  Episcopal  Clergy  in  such  a 
place."  ''  No,"  replied  the  bishop,  "  and  I  hope 
you  never  will.  They  don't  lose  any  members  in 
such  an  unhappy  way.  But  if  they  were  so  un- 
fortunate, you  can  depend  upon  it  they  would  be 
there  to  do  their  duty." 

(6)  Her  Effort  toward  Church  Unity. — 
Whatever  that  effort  may  result  in,  the  fact  that 
she  has  made  it  will  redound  to  her  honor.  Glori- 
ous things  are  already  spoken  of  her.  She  who 
for  years  past  had  been  praying  that  God  would 
take  away  "  our  unhappy  divisions,"  arose,  with 
all  the  strength  she  had,  to  fight  with  the  giant 
which  has   so   long  defied  the  armies   of   Israel. 

1  Bishop  Wilmer's  "  Recent  Past." 


1 66  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

While  others  were  sighing  for  a  deliverer,  she 
went  into  the  valley  to  fight  with  the  Philistine. 
For  this  men  are  now  honoring  her.  They  have 
taken  note  that  it  is  not  her  wish  to  remain  sepa- 
rate. The  simple  faith  to  realize  under  God's 
blessing  her  own  prayers  has  made  her  a  power 
in  the  land.  Her  ideal  may  be  visionary,  but  it 
is  noble.  Yet  with  a  mighty  faith  she  is  w^orking 
for  its  accomplishment.  "  For  my  brethren  and 
companions'  sakes :  I  will  wish  thee  prosperity. 
Yea,  because  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  our  God: 
I  will  seek  to  do  thee  good."  ^  Meanwhile  we 
are  thankful  that  we  are  members  of  a  Church 
which  has  been  the  first  in  all  Christendom  to 
hold  out  the  olive  branch  and  make  a  definite  pro- 
posal for  peace  and  union. 

(7)  The  Faithful  Assertion  of  Her  Right- 
ful Position  has  been  of  Inestimable  Value 
TO  Her. — Some  time  ago  a  prominent  minister  of 
the  Baptist  denomination,  finding  that  the  Bap- 
tists had  increased  only  36  per  cent,  since  1870, 
while  the  Episcopalians  had  increased  141  per 
cent,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  recognizing 
that  the  growth  was  not  local,  but  was  in  every 
part   of    the    United    States,    cast   about    for   an 

1  Ps.  cxxii.,  8,  9. 


CAUSES   OF   PROGRESS  167 

explanation.  His  words  are  worthy  of  careful 
attention.  He  "  was  convinced  that  the  true  ex- 
planation of  this  growth  is  to  be  found  in  the  con- 
fidence, assurance,  and  courage  of  the  Episcopa- 
lian leaders.  They  believe  that  theirs  is  '  the 
Church,'  and  are  not  slow  to  assert  their  belief. 
That  very  assurance  and  the  exclusiveness  which 
comes  from  it,  is  the  tower  of  their  strength. 
They  are  not  ashamed  of  their  belief ;  they  have 
the  courage  of  their  convictions,  and  a  large  part 
of  the  world  takes  them  at  their  own  estimate. 
Here  is  the  secret  of  their  power."  This  is  a  clear 
and,  we  believe,  a  true  judgment.  It  is  indeed 
striking  testimony,  as  coming  from  an  outsider, 
that  not  those  who  are  minimizing  her  claims, 
and  making  light  of  her  Catholic  heritage,  break- 
ing down  the  middle  wall  of  partition  and  con- 
demning her  as  exclusive,  are  her  best  friends ; 
but  those  who  are  consistently  maintaining  at  all 
costs  her  inherent  rights  and  fundamental  princi- 
ples are  the  true  builders  of  our  Zion. 

(8)  She  Has  Grown  Through  Her  Trials. 
— She  has  come  out  of  the  furnace  of  affliction  to 
grow  all  the  stronger  in  consequence  of  her  fiery 
ordeals.  "  Sub  pondere  cresce  "  (Grow  under 
your   load)   was   the  motto   of   John    Spruell,  of 


l68  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

Glasgow,  imprisoned  on  the  Bass  Rock  in  the 
Firth  of  Forth.  This  is  a  law  of  nature,  which 
also  has  governed  the  Church,  and  she  is  strong 
to-day  because  she  has  borne  and  suffered. 

(9)  The  Broad  and  Liberal  Spirit  which 
characterizes  the  Church :  the  generous  way  in 
which  she  deals  with  her  children. — She  takes  the 
Bible  and,  putting  it  into  the  hands  of  all,  says 
"  Search  the  Scriptures,"  imposing  no  rules  with 
respect  to  their  reading.  She  has  no  Index  Ex- 
purgatorius,  no  lists  of  forbidden  books,  nor  does 
she  put  a  ban  upon  innocent  pleasures  and  amuse- 
ments. Her  motto  is :  Let  everyone  be  fully  per- 
suaded in  his  own  mind.  She  is  trustful  to  a 
fault,  and  already  she  is  reaping  her  reward. 
"Trust  the  people  "  is  an  old  political  motto.  It 
has  been  tried  by  our  Church  and  has  not  been 
falsified.  If  the  time  ever  should  come  again 
when  men  shall  cry,  "  Down  with  her !  down 
with  her,  even  to  the  ground  I  "  while  wild  an- 
archy sweeps  through  the  land  and  foundations 
are  thrown  down,  then  her  children,  rising  up  in 
their  thousands  will  cry,  "  Hold  !  " 

"  Woodman,  spare  that  tree, 
Touch  not  a  single  bough  ; 
In  youth  it  sheltered  me, 
And  I'll  protect  it  now  !  " 


CAUSES  OF  PROGRESS  169 

It  is  due  in  part  to  this  spirit  of  trustfulness 
that  distinguishes  her,  that  she  gives  her  laymen 
so  considerable  a  share  in  all  government  of  the 
Church.  In  the  selection  of  pastors,  even  in  the 
choice  of  bishops,  in  local  Church  affairs  and  in 
the  Supreme  Councils  of  the  National  Church, 
the  layman's  voice  and  the  layman's  vote  are 
never  absent.  There  are,  indeed,  those  who  dep- 
recate the  large  power  which  has  thus  been  en- 
trusted to  the  laity  ;  we  are  not  of  such.  On  the 
contrary,  we  rejoice  at  it,  believing  that  the  cus- 
tom is  not  merely  primitive  and  Apostolic,  Catho- 
lic in  the  best  and  widest  sense,  but  that  it  is  also 
for  the  truest  welfare  of  the  Church  herself. 

(10)  Last  but  not  Least  ;  She  has  no  Poli- 
tics.— President  Lincoln  is  credited  with  saying 
(to  Mr.  Seward,  who  was  a  churchman),  "  When 
I  join  a  Church  it  will  be  the  Episcopal,  because 
it  has  neither  politics  nor  religion." 

The  terse  wisdom  of  the  late  President's  epi- 
grams is  well  known ;  we  may  be  pardoned  if  we 
somevfhat  agree  with  him  in  this. 

The  Episcopal  Church  has  no  politics.  Whilst 
our  Civil  War  was  raging,  like  every  other  relig- 
ious body  in  our  land,  she  felt  the  strain. 
Brethren  were  parted  from  brethren.     But  there 


I/O  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

was  no  schism  in  the  fold.  Unity  of  faith  kept 
them  together.  They  were  Churchmen  first, 
politicians  afterward.  There  were,  of  course,  ar- 
dent spirits  on  both  sides,  who  flung  themselves 
into  the  fight.  A  bishop  even  left  his  diocese 
and  fell  as  a  soldier  at  the  head  of  his  troops. 
But  as  soon  as  the  war  was  over  all  churchmen 
came  together  again.  When  the  General  Con- 
vention met  in  October,  1865,  at  Philadelphia, 
Bishop  Lay,  of  Arkansas,  and  Bishop  Atkinson, 
of  North  Carolina,  were  present  at  the  opening 
session — though  from  the  South,  they  were  still 
bishops  of  the  Church.  It  was  a  great  proof  of 
the  power  of  the  Church  and  a  happy  omen  for 
the  future.  In  the  pages  of  the  Church  history 
of  that  day,  the  only  permanent  record  of  the 
strife  which  can  be  found  is  the  canon  which, 
without  any  direct  allusion  to  the  dead  Bishop 
Polk,  declares:  "  It  is  the  sense  of  this  house  that 
the  Clergy  shall  not  bear  arms." 

But  what  sort  of  a  thing  is  a  Church  without 
religion  ?  We  confess  the  words  give  us  at  first 
a  shock.  Such  a  Church  would  seem  to  us  to  be 
as  a  cloud  without  water,  or  salt  without  its 
savor.  But  a  moment's  consideration  shows  us 
that  we    have   here  one    of   those    pithy  sayings 


CAUSES   OF   PROGRESS  17 1 

which  made  Lincoln  famous  the  world  over.  For 
he  was  not  speaking  of  "  religion,"  as  S.  James  de- 
fines it,  but  as  he  had  met  with  it  among  the  sec- 
tarians, where  men  and  women  "  get  religion  "  as 
one  gets  a  fever  or  a  cold.  The  phrase  is  its  own 
condemnation.  Religion  is  not  something  which 
comes  from  without,  but  is  that  which  is  built  up 
from  within.  First  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  after 
that  the  full  corn  in  the  ear,  is  its  true  course. 

This  is  the  sort  of  religion  the  Church  honors, 
but,  alas,  the  other  sort  consisted  mainly  in  loud 
professions  of  pharisaic  superiority.  With  the 
Church,  "  the  trivial  round,  the  common  task  "  is 
the  ordinary  course  and  channel  of  holy  living 
and  of  holy  d3dng.  Religion  is  duty — religion  is 
life,  and  Christians  remembering  this  are  to  be 
as  the  salt  in  the  mighty  ocean,  everywhere  an 
unseen,  silent,  and  all-powerful  agency  for  final 
good.  Perhaps  most  of  all,  the  Church  of  Christ 
is  growing  amongst  us  because  she  stands  for  this 
substantial  thing. 


POPULAR   OBJECTIONS    AGAINST   THE 
CHURCH 


X. 


POPULAR   OBJECTIONS   AGAINST   THE 
CHURCH 

"  Whoever  thinks  a  faultless  piece  to  see, 
Thinks  what  ne'er  was,  nor  is,  nor  e'er  shall  be." 

— Pope  :  "  Essay  on  Criticism." 

We  have  now  to  deal  with  some  popular  objec- 
tions against  the  Church.  Time  has  been  when 
our  Church  was  regarded  as  the  setter-forth  of  a 
religion  so  easy,  that  it  was  naively  asserted  there 
were  but  two  ways  of  leaving  her — one  by  dying, 
the  other  by  being  converted  !  Those  were  days 
when  the  Church  was  commonly  thought  of  as  an 
ecclesiastical  Agag,  loving  to  walk  delicately, 
and  in  whose  sight  the  soul  of  an  aristocrat  was 
infinitely  more  precious  than  that  of  a  collier  or 
street  organ-grinder.  Who  could  w^onder  at  this, 
if  she  only  lived,  as  was  said,  on  the  dry  husks  of 
formalism  ?  Happily  charges  such  as  these  need 
no  refutation  now.     Yet  there  are  four  charges 


176  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

still  made  which  demand  our  attention,  inasmuch 
as  they  are  widely  accepted  as  substantially  true. 
These  are : 

1.  That  she  is  copying  the  usages  of  the  Roman 
Church  and  doing  Jier  work. 

2.  That  she  has  not  the  Apostolic  Succession 
she  claims. 

3.  That  she  is  narrow,  and  even  bigoted. 

4.  That  there  is  no  uniformity,  either  of  doc- 
trine or  ritual,  in  her  teaching  and  services. 

The  onward  march  of  our  Church  has  naturally 
developed  a  critical  spirit  against  her  ;  a  spirit 
extreme  to  mark  what  is  done  amiss.  She  is  as 
a  city  set  on  a  hill.  Envy  commonly  dogs  the 
footsteps  of  success.  To  stand  well  with  the  mul- 
titude is  to  stand  ill  with  the  lagos  who  are  in 
jealous  minority.  Aristides  had  done  the  man 
who  voted  for  his  banishment  no  injury,  as  he 
himself  confessed  ;  but  it  was  gall  and  worm- 
wood to  him  to  hear  Aristides  continually  called 
'^  The  Just." 

And  were  the  Church  as  free  from  evil  as  she 
will  be  when  there  shall  nothing  enter  into  her 
that  "defileth  or  worketh  abomination,  or  maketh 
a  lie,"  she  shall  not  escape  calumny.  The  world  is 
"  nothing,  if   not   critical ;  "    therefore    we    must 


POPULAR   OBJECTIONS  I77 

look  the  more  narrowly  at  all  accusations  brought 
against  her. 

The  first  objection  we  deal  with  is  : 
I.  That  she  is  copying  the  usages  of  the  Roman 
Church,  and  doing  her  work.  We  are  told  that 
she  is  undoing  the  glorious  Reformation,  and  so 
forth  —  ad  nauseam.  This  is  no  new  charge. 
The  Puritans,  over  three  hundred  years  ago, 
brought  it  against  her  ;  and  since  then,  from  time 
to  time,  it  has  been  advanced  with  remarkable 
persistence.  Whenever,  indeed,  she  has  attempt- 
ed to  be  more  obedient  to  her  own  standards  of 
faith  and  worship,  and  thereby  better  serve  her 
Master,  it  has  been  the  established  usage  to  shout 
"  No  Popery  "  at  her,  until  the  cry  has  become 
perennial  —  a  sort  of  stock  objection  —  an  item 
held  over  for  the  ''  silly  season." 

Now,  here  we  pause  a  moment  to  utter  a  pro- 
test. Romanism  is  not  the  summum  malum  of 
the  universe.  There  are  worse  things,  and  en- 
shrined in  this  very  accusation  there  is  a  worse 
thought.  Rather  any  day  would  we  be  of  Rome's 
most  thorough-going  disciples,  a  full-fledged  Ul- 
tramontane— a  typical  Torquemada,  Grand  In- 
quisitor-General — than  be  one  who,  owing  alle- 
giance to  another  Church,  is  but  a  sorry  imitator 
12 


178  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

of  a  Church  which  his  own  declares  has  erred,  not 
only  in  matters  of  ceremony,  but  also  in  matters 
of  faith.  A  consistent  papist  we  might  honor ;  a 
mere  apist  we  can  never  honor.  The  position  of 
the  one  is  compatible  with  uprightness  of  heart 
and  integrity  of  life  ;  that  of  the  other  is  in- 
compatible from  every  aspect.  The  one  is,  after 
all,  a  man ;  the  other  merely  a  parasite.  Yet  mark 
this,  it  is  of  apism  we  are  accused.  We  are 
charged  to  be,  forsooth,  as  the  daw  in  borrowed 
plumes,  and  as  an  ass  in  the  lion's  skin  ! 

Men  may,  if  they  will,  ridicule  our  doctrines 
and  practices,  call  them  absurd,  childish,  super- 
stitious, mediaeval,  and  the  like,  and  we  shall  feel 
ourselves  under  no  obligation  to  reply  nor  shall 
our  feelings  thereby  be  hurt.  Such  accusations 
are  not,  it  may  be,  quite  complimentary  to  our  in- 
tellectual faculties,  but  they  do  not  attack  our 
moral  character.  When,  however,  we  are  ac- 
cused of  being  parasites  and  plagiarists,  of  wear- 
ing stolen  plumes,  of  being  traitors  in  the  camp, 
then  justly  is  the  fire  kindled,  and  at  the  last  we 
speak  with  our  tongue  ! 

And  we  protest  the  more  because  this  charge 
has  worked  very  much  evil.  Believing  it,  in  the 
past  a  few  of  our  weak-kneed   brethren  have  left 


POPULAR   OBJECTIONS  179 

US :  some  to  find  a  refuge  in  the  arms  of  Puritan- 
ism ;  some  to  end  all  doubt  and  stifle  all  further 
inquiry,  among  the  very  enemy  they  both  dreaded 
and  yet  sought,  fascinated  by  the  cry,  ''  Come 
over  to  us  ;  ours  is  the  only  Church  ;  we  navigate 
the  only  lifeboat 

'  O'er  life's  wild,  restless  sea.'  " 

Now,  when  general  charges  are  made,  to  ask 
for  an  instance  has  sometimes  a  very  sobering 
effect.  A  man  may  have  worked  himself  up  into 
a  perfect  white  heat  of  excitement,  but  say  '*  an 
illustration,  please  " — and  there  is  peace.  Popery 
has  been  a  name  to  conjure  with.  It  has  been  the 
red  flag  to  the  enraged  bull  of  ultra-Protestant- 
ism ;  the  summons  to  war  which  no  true  Protes- 
tant could  possibly  neglect ;  the  signal  for  a 
grand  and  united  effort  to  free  the  Father's  house 
from  thieves  masquerading  in  stolen  vestments  ! 
But  this  charge  is,  after  all,  but  merely  general, 
and  we  justly  ask  for  a  special  case  ;  and  this  the 
more  as  the  ground  of  objection  is  so  constantly 
being  changed,  and  we  are  therefore  somewhat  in 
danger  of  beating  the  air ! — Because  the  ring  in 
marriage,  kneeling  at  prayer,  the  surplice  in  the 
pulpit,  the  keeping  of  Christmas,  even  the  episco- 


l80  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

pate  and  the  use  of  the  prayer-book,  have  all  been 
often  objected  to  as  popish.  Nor  are  such  ridicu- 
lous and  unchristian  objections  entirely  unheard 
of  now.  Even  at  this  present  day,  the  altar  cross, 
prized  here  as  a  symbol  of  our  faith,  is  actually 
forbidden  in  the  Church  of  Ireland  !  O  suicidal 
blindness!  Is  then  the  Cross  of  Christ  the  abom- 
ination of  desolation,  standing  in  the  Holy  Place 
where  it  ought  not  ?  ''  Tell  it  not  in  Gath ; 
publish  it  not  in  the  streets  of  Askelon  ;  lest  the 
daughters  of  the  Philistines  rejoice,  lest  the  daugh- 
ters of  the  uncircumcised  triumph."  '  Lest  even 
Hindus  and  Mohammedans  hail  such  tidings  with 
delight !  But ''  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory  save 
in  the  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  the 
world  is  crucified  unto  me,  and  I  unto  the  world."  ^ 
Ever  since  the  crucifixion  of  our  Lord  that  cross 
has  been  the  emblem  of  man's  salvation,  and  well 
therefore  may  every  Christian  sing  : 

"  In  the  Cross  of  Christ  I  glory- 
Towering  o'er  the  wrecks  of  time  ; 
All  the  light  of  sacred  story, 

Gathers  round  its  head  sublime." 

As  we  ask  our  question,  we  shall  probably  receive 
the  answer  that  the  "  six  points  of  ritual"  in  use 

1  2  Sam.  i.  20.  2  Gal.  vi.  14. 


POPULAR    OBJECTIONS  l8l 

ill  the  "  extreme  churches" — Lights,  wafer  bread, 
vestments,  the  eastward  position,  the   mixed  chal- 
ice, incense,  are  all  of  Rome.     Such  is  the  charge. 
Ere   we  proceed  to  examine   it,  let  us  ask  first, 
what  is  ''Roman?"     And   we   answer  at    once, 
that  is   properly    called    Roman,    and  only   that, 
which  is  a  practice,  ceremony,  or  doctrine  origi- 
nating in  or  peculiar  to  Rome.     Now,  tried  by 
this  test,   those   ''  points "  are  no    more    Roman 
than    are     hands    or     feet,    hats    or    shoes.      If 
they   belong  exclusively  to  any  Church,  they  be- 
long   to  the   Jewish;    for  what    are    altar   lights 
but  the  survival  of  the  Temple  lights  to  which 
Christ  pointed  on  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  say- 
ing ''  I  am  the  light  of  the  world  ;"  ^  and  which  our 
own  Cranmer  said  should  remain  for  that  very  sig- 
nification?    And  what  is  wafer  bread  but  the  un- 
leavened bread  of  the  Jewish  Passover  Service  ? 
What  are  eucharistic  vestments  but  the  ordinary 
clothes  of  Jevxdsh  citizens  in  Christ's  day  ?     What 
is  the  eastward  position  but  a  survival  of  such 
practices  as  that  of  Daniel,  who  in  Babylon  looked 
toward  Jerusalem,  as   he   knelt   upon   his   knees 
three  times  a  day  ?    What  is  the  mixed  chalice  but 
the  third  cup  of  wine  which  Jewish  practice  had 

ijohn  viii.  12. 


1 82  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

long  before  added  to  the  ritual  of  the  Passover  ? 
What,  after  all,  the  use  of  incense  but  the  fulfilment 
of  Malachi's  prophecy,  that  in  the  new  Church, 
as  in  the  old  Church,  **  Incense  should  be  offered 
ever}^ where  and  a  pure  offering."  ^  Call  these 
things  whatever  else  you  will,  but  if  you  speak  of 
them  as  *'  Rom_an,"  the  ninety  millions  of  Greek 
Christians  will  cry  "  Hold  !  We  used  these  things 
even  before  we  gave  Rome  her  Christianity,  and 
we  still  use  them.  They  have  been  and  are  still  of 
the  Catholic  Church  as  a  whole,  and  not  of  an}- 
one  part,  however  large  or  however  venerable." 

Please  do  not  misunderstand  us  here.  We  are 
not  concerned  with  the  question  Avhether  such 
points  of  ritual  are  now  desirable.  With  that 
question  we  have  nothing  to  do.  S.  Paul's  rule, 
indeed,  is  clear  and  may  well  be  our  guide : 
''  All  things  are  lawful  for  me,  but  all  things  are 
not  expedient;  all  things  are  lawful  for  me,  but  all 
things  edify  not." '  We  need  not  be  wiser  than 
the  great  Apostle,  who  to  the  Jews  was  a  Jew, 
and  to  the  Greeks  a  Greek.  The  point  at  issue  is 
this,  and  only  this :  Are  these  forms  in  any  sense 
borrowed  from  Rome  ?  And  the  answer,  the 
emphatic  answer,  is,  of  necessity,  No ! 

1  Malachi  i.  ii.  2  j  Cor.  x.  23. 


POPULAR   OBJECTIONS  183 

Undoubtedly  there  are  things  which  are  Rome's 
own  peculiar  invention.  The  saying  of  prayers 
in  a  tongue  not  understanded  of  the  people  is 
Roman ;  so  is  the  mutilation  of  the  Sacrament  of 
Holy  Communion;  so  is  the  elevation  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  ]Mary  to  a  throne  almost  above 
her  Son ;  so  is  Rome's  doctrine  of  Purgatory 
and  her  doctrine  of  Indulgences ;  so  is  her  for- 
bidding to  marr}^,  at  least  since  the  days  of  the 
heretics  condemned  by  the  Apostle  S.  Jude  ;  so 
are  the  Papal  claims,  for  Rome  is  the  only  Church 
possessing  a  Supreme  Head  upon  Earth,  who 
would  rule  in  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  give 
it  to  whomsoever  he  will ;  so  is  the  Papal  In- 
fallibility. But  of  these  doctrines  and  prac- 
tices, and  others  as  uncatholic,  there  is  not  a 
trace  in  our  Prayer-Book,  nor  in  our  Creeds  or 
standards. 

That  there  are  those  who  give  occasion  to 
the  enemy  to  find  fault,  we  cannot  deny.  All  are 
not  Israel  who  are  of  Israel.  But  the  CJmrch  is 
sound.  The  eccentricities  of  misguided  individu- 
als, which  she  gently  bears  with  on  the  one  side 
or  the  other,  are  indeed  a  hindrance,  but  yet  not 
her  fault.  That  she  does  not  cast  them  out  is  due 
to  that  charity  which  suffereth  long  and  is  kind. 


1 84  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

But  after  all,  what  are  they  in  comparison  of  the 
vast  number  of  her  loyal  sons  who 

Beyond  their  highest  joy 

Do  prize  her  heavenly  ways  ; 

Her  sweet  communion,  solemn  vows, 

Her  hymns  of  love  and  praise. 

There  is  such  a  sin  as  that  of  bearing  false  wit- 
ness. Let  those  who  would  fiing  the  charge  that 
our  Church  is  copying  Roman  ritual  and  teaching 
Roman  doctrine  remember  this.  The  one  Church 
which  Rome  fears,  the  one  Church  whose  grand 
work,  rapid  progress,  and  influential  standing  she 
envies,  the  one  Church  of  all  Churches  farthest 
from  her  model  and  nearest  to  the  Apostolic — is 
she  a  mere  parasite  and  a  plagiarist  ?  Away  with 
such  a  thought,  away  with  it !  Even  Rome  is  un- 
der no  such  delusion !  She  does  not  claim  that 
this  Church  is  doing  her  work.  ''  The  Anglican 
Church,'"  says  the  Civifta  Catollica  (a  Jesuit  pa- 
per published  in  Rome),  "  seems  to  stand  in  the 
way  of  the  hopes  of  the  Jesuits,  and  to  be  the  ob- 
stacle to  the  final  victory  of  Rome  over  England." 

2.  It  is  Said  that  our  Church  has  not  the 
Apostolic  Succession,  which  She  Claims. — 
We  do  not  propose  to  enter  on  this  question  now. 

i  Living  Church,  July  15,  1893. 


POPULAR   OBJECTIONS  1 85 

It  is  like  those  other  objections — a  stock  argu- 
ment, somewhat  threadbare  from  use,  and  depend- 
ent for  its  propagation  upon  stout  assertion  rather 
than  upon  sober  statement  and  proof.  We  are 
not  greatly  concerned  as  to  what  people  generally 
think  of  our  Orders.  For  us,  Anglican  Orders  are 
above  suspicion.  If  the  clergy  of  the  American 
Church  are  not  as  much  priests  as  any  others  can 
ever  be,  they  would  never  dare  to  ascend  the  altar 
steps  to  mete  out  the  Bread  of  Life.  We  may  hope 
that  our  Roman  brethren  will  soon  on  this  point 
be  better  informed  than  they  now  appear  to  be. 
The  Bishop  of  Rome  himself  seems  to  be  sharing 
this  hope,  for  he  has  lately  appointed  a  commis- 
sion to  inquire  into  the  question  of  their  validity. 
Such  kindly  interest  should  meet  with  reciprocity. 
The  American  Church  might  also  appoint  a  similar 
commission  to  satisfy  some  of  us  that  Roman  Or- 
ders are  equally  valid.  But  whatever  the  report  of 
the  Roman  commission  may  be,  Anglican  Orders 
are  good  enough  for  Anglicans ;  if  anyone  thinks 
otherwise  we  are  sorry  for  him.  "  A  threefold 
cord  is  not  quickly  broken."  '  Our  Orders  are 
bound  by  such  a  cord.  If  they  fail,  all  others  must 
fail   with   them.     ''  If   the   righteous   scarcely  be 

1  Eccl.  iv.  12. 


1 86  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

saved,  where  shall  the  ungodly  and  the  sinner  ap- 
pear ?"^ 

3.  Our  Church  is  Said  to  Be  Narrow  and 
Exclusive. — Far  from  beins:  at  all  narrow,  she 
is  singularly  liberal.  She,  e.g.,  grants  all  that 
other  Christian  bodies  claim  for  their  ministers, 
which  is  more  than  they  commonly  will  do  for 
ours.  We  are  willing,  writes  one  of  our  bishops? 
to  allow  their  ministers  to  be  what  their  convic- 
tions and  their  seals  of  God's  approval  testify 
them  to  be,  viz.,  evangelists,  teachers,  preachers 
of  the  Word.  But  realizing  as  we  do  the  greater 
illuminations  and  resources  and  potentialities  of 
grace  given  under  the  fuller  administrations  of 
the  priesthood  of  Christ's  body,  which  we  by 
God's  mercy  possess,  we  desire  them,  so  much 
more  worthy  as  many  of  them  are  than  ourselves, 
to  be  partakers  of  these  spiritual  gifts.^ 

Thirty  years  ago  a  bishop  and  a  priest  were  cross- 
ing the  Coast  Range  of  California,  from  Santa  Cruz 
on  the  Bay  of  Monterey  to  the  Santa  Clara  Valley. 
"  We  two,"  writes  the  priest,  "  were  the  only  pas- 
sengers, and  the  day  was  full  of  interest,  made 
especially  so  by  the  bishop's  account  of  his  many 

»  I  Peter  iv.  18. 

2  Bishop  Grafton  quoted  in  Piihl'tc  Opinion,  May  3,  1894. 


POPULAR   OBJECTIONS  187 

and  strange  adventures  as  missionary  in  the  then 
new  and  remote  Northwest. 

"  Among  other  things,  I  asked  him  how  he 
managed  to  get  along  with  the  many  '  ministers  of 
the  denominations '  whom  he  must  constantly 
meet.  '  Oh,'  said  he,  '  I  generally  get  on  with 
them  famously,  if  only  they  will  let  me ; '  and 
I  could  well  imagine,  from  his  genial  and  kindly 
manner,  that  he  would  do  so.  '  But  how  do  you 
manage  it?'  'Well,'  said  he,  'I  accept  them 
on  their  own  terms.  I  account  them  to  be  just 
what  they  claim  to  be — Methodist  ministers, 
Baptist  ministers,  and  what  not.  We  have  no 
quarrel  about  that.  Of  course  they  are  a  little 
nervous  and  fidgety,  and  sometimes  complain 
that  we  *'  Episcopals  do  not  recognize  "  them,  and 
all  that,  and  call  us  ''bigoted"  and  "intolerant," 
and  other  pleasant  and  familiar  names ;  but  I 
assure  them  they  are  entirely  mistaken,  we  do 
recognize  them  fully.  They,  of  course,  express 
surprise  at  this ;  they  had  never  so  understood  it, 
and  then  go  on  and  complain  that  it  could  not  be 
so,  because  they  are  not  admitted  to  our  pulpits, 
and  that  we  do  not  admit  them  to  be  "  the  same 
as  ourselves."  '  Let  us  talk  about  that,'  say  I. 
*  Now,  you  are  a  minister,  say,  a  minister  of  the 


1 88  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

Baptist  Church,  or  of  the  Methodist ;  I  don't 
question  that  at  all,  I  fully  recognize  the  fact ;  I 
recognize  you  fully  in  that  capacity  ;  we  can  have 
no  quarrel  about  it.'  '  But —  but — '  says  the 
man, 'that  is  all  so;  still,  you  do  not  recognize 
us  as  the  same  as  yourselves,  as  holding  office 
equal  to  yours.'  '  Let  us  see  about  that,'  I  an- 
swer. '  Now,  I  claim  to  be  a  Bishop  of  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church,  established  by  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  Himself  and  His  Apostles — a  successor  of 
those  apostles  in  their  apostleship,  I  trace  my 
official  ancestry  back  to  the  Lord  Himself,  who 
said :  "  Go,  teach  all  nations."  Now,  do  you 
claim  to  be  that  ? '  Of  course  the  man  answers, 
No!  and  then  sometimes — usually — he  breaks  out 
in  denunciation  of  all  such  "absurd  and  arrogant 
nonsense ;  "  says  there  is  no  such  thing  as  an 
apostolic  ministry  ;  the  Apostles  are  all  dead  long 
ago,  and  have  no  "  successors ; "  it  is  all  a  "  fig- 
ment," an  ''  imposition  "  ;  ''  there  is  no  priest- 
hood," and  all  that.  I  hear  him  patiently,  and  re- 
ply  :  "  Now,  my  friend,  don't  let  us  quarrel,  and 
call  hard  names.  It  is  not  right ;  it  is  unchar- 
itable. I  admit  fon  to  be  all  you  claim.  I  don't 
abuse  you  ;  I  don't  question  your  position  ;  can't 
you  do  the  same  ?     Won't  you  do  the  same  as  you 


POPULAR  OBJECTIONS  1 89 

are  done  by  ?  You  call  us  *'  uncharitable  "  because 
we  do  not  reckon  you  to  be  what  you  do  not 
reckon  yourselves.  Think  it  over,  friend,  and 
tell  me  where  the  intolerance  and  want  of  charity 
come  in.'  So  I  manage  them,  and  generally  they 
have  no  more  to  say." 

Narrow  !  Exclusive  !  We  are  of  an  exactly  con- 
trary opinion.  Surely  scales  must  be  on  the  eyes 
of  those  who  make  this  charge.  There  is  in  reality 
no  Church  so  broad.  Seeking,  it  may  be,  baptism 
or  confirmation  from  her,  you  apply  to  a  bishop 
or  priest  of  the  Church  to  know  what  is  required 
of  you,  and  from,  each  one  you  hear  but  this: 
Belief  in  the  Apostles'  Creed.  This  was  all  the 
Church  required  from  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  ;  this 
is  all  she  asks  of  yott. 

But  you  say :  Am  I  not  required  to  believe  in 
the  apostolic  succession  ?  In  baptismal  regenera- 
tion, and  other  like  teachings  ?  Not  unless  your 
conscience  tells  you  to.  Some,  even  of  her  clergy, 
do  not  so  believe.  We  wish  they  did  ;  for  we  are 
convinced,  not  merely  of  the  truth  of  the  doc- 
trines, but  of  the  great  helpfulness  which  a  firm 
conviction  of  their  truth  brings.  Yet  the  Church 
willingly  receives  them  as  if  they  did.  She  in 
fact  rejects  none  who  hold  the  great  verities  of 


1 90  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

the  Christian  Faith,  as  contained  in  the  Apostles' 
Creed. 

But  once  more  you  ask  :  Is  there  not  a  rule  that 
none  can  be  admitted  to  Holy  Communion  unless 
he  be  confirmed,  or  be  ready  and  desirous  to  be 
confirmed  ?  To  be  sure  she  has  such  a  rule,  and  to 
us  it  seems  sweet  reasonableness  and  simplicity 
itself.  Under  it,  even  a  Presbyterian  or  INIethodist 
can  be  admitted  to  confirmation  without  neces- 
sarily becoming  an  Episcopalian.  The  Church 
will  confirm  anyone  reverently  seeking  the  gift, 
as  she  confirmed  the  famous  Methodist  minister, 
Dr.  Adam  Clark.  She  does  so,  moreover,  with- 
out asking  what  your  views  are  about  Church 
government  or  non-liturgical  services.  Again,  still 
unmindful  of  those  questions,  when  once  con- 
firmed, she  says,  lovingly :  *'  Ye  who  do  truly 
and  earnestly  repent  you  of  your  sins,  and  are  in 
love  and  charity  with  your  neighbors,  and  in- 
tend to  lead  a  new  life,  following  the  command- 
ments of  God,  and  walking  from  henceforth  in 
his  holy  ways,  draw  near  with  faith,  and  take 
this  holy  Sacrament  to  your  comfort."  All  that 
she  asks  is  that  you  hold  the  essentials  of  the 
Catholic  faith,  that  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints,    and    be    desirous  of    leading   a   holy  life. 


POPULAR   OBJECTIONS  191 

Satisfied  on  this  point,  she  insists  upon  no  further 
tests,  and  forthwith  looks  upon  you  as  her  own 
child.  She  henceforth  treats  you  neither  better 
nor  worse  than  those  who  are  in  full  sympathy 
with  all  her  teachings  and  practices.  Is  there  an- 
other communion  in  all  Christendom  that  will  do 
the  same  ?  Our  Church  has  one  simple  rule,  open 
to  all  to  keep  ;  pledging  them  to  no  more  than  a 
living  faith  in  the  Son  of  God.  But  she  does  ask 
this  without  respect  of  persons.  Yet  whatever 
your  answer  be,  she  never  meets  j^ou  at  the  fords 
of  Jordan,  and  slays  you  without  mercy  if  you 
cannot  say  her  Shibboleth  ! 

4.  We  Differ  Far  Too  Widely  in  the 
Character  of  Our  Services. — We  must  be 
pardoned  if  we  call  attention  to  the  contradic- 
tory character  of  these  objections.  Still,  not  to 
be  over-critical,  we  admit  we  do  differ  widely. 
There  is  in  very  truth  a  wonderful  diversity  of 
ritual  in  our  services,  and  up  to  a  certain  point, 
even  in  matters  of  faith.  Here  are  two  churches, 
not  far  apart  in  distance,  but  far  apart  in  all  else. 
One  is  "  Low,"  the  other  *'  High."  In  these  two 
churches  the  very  vestments  of  the  clergy  tell 
their  own  story.  In  the  one  we  see  a  surplice  of 
such  flowing  dimensions   that  it  is   in   excellent 


192  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

keeping  with  a  black  stole  of  like  heroic  propor- 
tions, which  gives  to  its  wearer  a  sad,  funereal  ap- 
pearance. In  the  other  we  see  what  is  called  a 
*'  cotta,"  of  dimensions  so  exceedingly  slender 
that  dire  poverty  seems  to  be  its  onl}^  justification 
or  plea.  These  things  are  typical — typical  of  the 
men,  of  their  teachings,  of  their  churches,  and  of 
their  services.  A  great  distance  parts  them 
asunder.  There  is,  however,  between  these  two 
extremes,  another  brother  who,  being  all  things 
to  all  men,  calls  himself  ''  Broad."  You  cannot 
classify  him.  You  can  never  predict  what  he  will 
do  or  say.  He  is  one  day  attending  the  open- 
ing services  of  a  new  denominational  church  in 
his  vicinity,  and  the  next  "  assisting  at  High 
Mass."  He  is,  the  world  says,  a  man3^-sided  man  ; 
whole-souled;  a  veritable  tower  of  strength  to 
his  Church.  This  may  be  so,  but  how  can  that 
Church  which  claims  him  as  her  minister  be  nar- 
row ? 

Novv%  for  this  diversity  we  are  thankful.  To  us 
it  is  no  objection  ;  on  the  contrar}^,  it  is  a  strong 
recommendation.  It  is  an  evidence  of  life,  of  vig- 
orous life.  Human  nature  is  not  to  be  bottled  up 
and  laid  upon  a  shelf. 

It  was  never  intended  to  be  so  cribbed,  cabined. 


POPULAR   OBJECTIONS  193 

and  confined.  Look  around.  Is  there  anywhere 
this  terrible  uniformity  for  which  some  crave?  Is 
the  sky  the  same  day  after  day  ?  Is  the  w^eather 
the  same  ?  Are  all  the  leaves  of  the  trees  cut  af- 
ter the  same  pattern,  faultlessly  alike  in  size  and 
color,  shape  and  appearance  ?  Are  men  and 
women  all  alike  in  brains  and  strength  and  good- 
ness ?  No  such  uniformity  do  we  see.  Dull  mo- 
notony you  cannot  find.  Diversity  means  life  ; 
uniformity,  death.  Everything  that  God  has 
made  is  noted  for  its  variety,  and  it  would  be  a 
dull,  heavy,  and  uninteresting  world  if  it  were  not 
so.     Variety  is  Nature's  charm. 

Variety's  the  very  spice  of  life, 
That  gives  it  all  its  flavor. 

Once  in  the  long  history  of  the  Anglican  Church 
this  diversity  was  sought  to  be  ended  by  the  arm 
of  strength.  Odo,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  attempted 
it  and  failed,  and  the  Church  suffered  for  years 
in  consequence  of  the  attempt. 

And  we  are  not  in  sj^mpathy  with  any  movement 
which  would  seek  to  end  it  now.  The  great 
beauty  of  the  Episcopal  Church  is  that  it  is  wide, 
as  human  nature  is  wide.  Do  you  love  the  beau- 
tiful in  art  ?  You  will  find  it  in  the  more  ornate 
13 


194  tN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

services  of  the  Church.  In  a  day  when  the  beau- 
tiful is  being  cultivated  everywhere,  she  gives 
your  soul  full  play.  Are  you  puritanically  in- 
clined ?  Does  an  ornate  ritual  serve  no  good 
purpose  for  you,  rather  hindering  than  helping 
the  devotional  spirit  ?  She  is  ready  to  give  you 
a  service  that  will  help  you,  and  make  your  heart 
leap  with  joy ! 

We  do  not  seek  cast-iron  uniformity,  since  God 
did  not  make  us  uniform  by  nature.  The  Charity 
School  where  the  inmates  all  dress  alike  in  sober 
gray  and  wear  garments  all  cut  to  one  pattern 
and  almost  one  size,  is  not  our  model. 

Thus  the  objection  is  no  objection  at  all  but  a 
gain,  and  one  of  our  most  prized  possessions.  As 
we  value  unity  in  essentials  and  charity  in  all 
things,  so  do  we  value  perfect  liberty  in  all 
those  matters  which  touch  not  the  essential  and 
eternal  verities  of  the  Catholic  faith.  This  is  the 
heritage  of  the  Saints,  and  in  teaching  us  to  prize 
it  doth  this  Church  rule  us  prudently  with  all  her 
power. 


XI. 
THE   BIBLE 


XL 

THE    BIBLE 

"  Within  this  ample  volume  lies 
The  mystery  of  mysteries. 
Happiest  they  of  human  race 
To  whom  their  God  has  given  grace 
To  read,  to  fear,  to  hope,  to  pray, 
To  lift  the  latch,  to  force  the  way  ; 
And  better  had  they  ne'er  been  born 
Who  read  to  doubt,  or  read  to  scorn." 

—Sir  W^ alter  Scott. 

Apart  from  its  claim  to  be  God's  Word  to  man, 
and  from  all  that  that  claim  involves,  the  Bible, 
simply  on  account  of  its  venerable  age,  may  well 
challenge  the  respectful  attention  of  mankind. 
Some  of  its  writings  are  the  most  ancient  known. 
To  trace  them  to  their  source  involves  a  jour- 
ney far  back  into  antiquity  —  even  as  far  back  as 
some  1,500  years  before  Christ.  On  this  account, 
then,  do  we  value  the  Bible — that  it  tells  us  what 
no  other  book  can.  If  by  any  chance  it  could  be 
seen  to  be  untrustworthy,  history  would  then  be 


iqS  in  the  household  of  faith 

but  as  a  book  out  of  which  the  earlier  chapters 
had  been  torn  away  ! 

It  opens  with  the  Pentateuch,  or  Five  Books 
of  Moses,  recording  the  story  of  God's  dealings 
with  his  people  Israel.  The  succeeding  books  of 
Joshua,  Judges,  Ruth,  Samuel,  Kings,  and  Chroni- 
cles carry  on  that  story  until,  under  Iving  Solo- 
mon, the  tribes  of  Israel  reach  their  golden  age, 
and  forthwith,  alas  !.  enter  upon  that  decline  which 
paused  not  until  the  remnant  of  them  were  exiles 
in  Babylon.  In  the  books  which  follow — of  Ezra 
and  Nehemiah — we  read  of  their  home-coming 
and  the  rebuilding  of  their  city  and  temple. 
Then  one  more  book — that  of  Esther — tells  us  a 
tale  of  the  captivity,  and  the  story  for  a  while 
ceases. 

Parallel  with  these  historical  records  there  are 
five  other  books  of  a  different  character — books  of 
sacred  song  and  philosophical  discussion,  of  sweet 
allegory  and  pithy  proverb  —  all  w^ritten  in  the 
measured  flow  of  Hebrew  poetry.  One  of  these 
— the  Book  of  Psalms — has  brought  consolation  to 
generations  ever  since  ;  another — Ecclesiastes — 
was,  according  even  to  Renan,  the  only  charming 
book  ever  written  by  a  Jew. 

Sixteen  prophetical  books  follow  next  in  order. 


THE   BIBLE  I99 

*'  The  prophecy  came  not  in  old  time  by  the  will 
of  man ;  but  holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  ^  Isaiah,  who  lived 
some  eight  hundred  years  before  Christ,  was  the 
first  of  these ;  and  Malachi,  who  lived  four  cen- 
turies after  him,  was  the  last.  Then  for  four 
centuries  more  there  is  an  unbroken  silence. 

Next  the  four  Gospels  give  to  the  world  an 
all-too-short  account  of  the  earthly  life  of  the  Son 
of  God.  These  are  followed  by  the  book  of  the 
x\cts  of  the  Apostles,  wherein  we  are  told  of  the 
rise  and  progress  of  the  Church  during  its  first 
thirty  years;  then  follow  twenty -one  Epistles 
written  by  three  or  four  of  the  chief  Apostles ; 
and  last  of  all  the  book  of  The  Revelation  of  S, 
John  the  Divine,  which  closes  forever  the  sacred 
volume.  This  last  book  is  as  sweet  music  to  the 
ear.  Its  writer,  "  the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved," 
reveals  his  mystic  visions  of  the  future  of  the 
Church  and  of  the  eternal  purposes  of  God,  as 
they  are  being  unrolled  in  history,  foreshadowing 
the  final  victory  and  the  eternal  crowning  of  the 
glorified  Christ,  King  of  Kings  and  Lord  of 
Lords ! 

Sixty  books  are  there  in  all — a  library  indeed — 

^  2  Peter  i.  21. 


200  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

written  by  some  forty  different  writers,  among 
whom  are  fishermen  and  herdsmen,  shepherds  and 
physicians,  lawgivers  and  lawyers,  priests  and 
kings.  Begun,  as  we  have  said,  1,500  years  B.C., 
this  library  was  not  completed  until  a.d.  96.  But, 
though  we  group  the  books  together,  we  are  con- 
scious that  the  silence  between  Malachi  and  the 
Gospels  is  as  the  ocean  v/hich  parts  the  Old 
World  from  the  New,  and,  as  naturally  and  as 
rightly  as  we  speak  of  an  Old  World  and  a  New, 
so  do  we  in  like  manner  speak  of  the  Old  and  the 
New  Testaments. 

And  yet,  as  there  is  but  the  one  world,  so  is  there 
here  in  unity  of  thought  and  purpose  but  the  one 
Book.  When  Mohammed  was  asked  for  a  miracle, 
he  offered  the  Koran.  The  Christian,  thinking  of 
its  wondrous  unity,  might  more  reasonably  offer 
the  Bible.  Throughout  it  there  runs  continuously 
but  one  and  the  same  teaching.  Never  mind  who 
the  particular  author  may  be,  or  what  the  outvv- ard 
form  of  his  teaching,  there  is  one  thought  only — 
one  root-idea — running  through  it  all.  In  the  Old 
Testament  that  thought  is  "  Messiah  cometh."  In 
the  New,  it  is  "  Messiah  hath  come,"  and  the  old 
maxim  stands  approved:  All  roads  in  the  Bible 
lead  to  Christ. 


THE   BIBLE  201 

This  unity  is  indeed  more  than  marvellous ;  it 
is  divine : 

"  Whence,  but  from  Heaven,  could  men  unskilled  in  arts. 
In  several  ages  born,  in  several  parts, 
Weave  such  agreeing  truths  ?     Or  how,  or  why 
Should  they  conspire  to  cheat  us  with  a  lie  ?  " 

Next,  we  are  to  speak  of  "  the  difficulties  in  the 
Bible." 

The  Bible  does  not  come  to  us  unencumbered 
with  difficulty.  What  worth  having  does,  except 
the  great  phenomena  of  Nature  ?  The  beautiful 
rain  and  the  w^arm  sunshine  come  down  for  our 
welfare,  be  our  negligence  v/hat  it  may.  But  it 
is  not  so  in  other  matters.  Gold  is  not  showered 
down  upon  us.  Pearls  are  not  washed  up  at  our 
feet.  That  which  is  better  than  either,  a  beauti- 
ful and  lovely  character,  is  not  gained  without  an 
effort,  not  retained  without  a  struggle.  We  may, 
therefore,  expect  to  find  difficulties  in  Scripture 
as  we  do  in  Nature,  and  the  more,  since  Scripture 
itself  recognizes  their  existence  ;  for  one  portion 
of  it  bears  this  witness  to  another  portion :  ''  In 
which  are  some  things  hard  to  be  understood, 
which  they  that  are  unlearned  and  unstable  wrest 
unto  their  own  destruction."  ^ 

1  2  Pet.  iii.  i6. 


202  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

What  are  these  difficulties  ? 

1.  The  Scriptures  were  written  in  strange  Ian* 
guag-es — the  Old  Testament  for  the  most  part  in 
Hebrew,  and  the  New  in  Greek.  Now,  Hebrew 
as  such  is  no  longer  a  spoken  language;  in  its 
ancient  form  it  is,  like  the  Latin,  practically  dead. 
The  New  Testament  has  come  down  to  us  in 
Greek,  but  yet  not  free  from  textual  problems. 
Here,  then,  is  our  first  difficulty.  The  story  of 
God's  dealing  with  His  people  is  not  revealed  to 
us  in  the  tongue  in  which  we  were  born,  nor 
yet  even  in  languages  any  longer  spoken  in  their 
purity. 

2.  There  is  also  a  wide  difference  in  the  age  and 
style  of  the  different  writings.  This  is  rather  a 
complication  of  the  first.  Physicians  tell  us  that 
complications  always  increase  danger.  Imag- 
ine a  volume  containing  Anglo-Saxon  chronicles 
and  a  part  of  the  Doomsday  Book,  some  of  Csed- 
mon's  poems  and  Bede's  "  Ecclesiastical  History," 
with  a  treatise  by  Duns  Scotus  or  Sir  Thomas 
More,  the  Provisions  of  Oxford  with  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  some  of  Chaucer's  tales  and 
three  or  four  of  Carlyle's  essays,  a  volume  of  Bar- 
row's sermons  with  a  report  of  the  Lexow  Com- 
mittee, Longfellow's  poems  with  a  chapter  or  two 


THE   BIBLE  203 

from  Kidd's  ''  Social  Evolution,"  and  then  let 
these  be  all  bound  together  in  one  book.  After  a 
thousand  years  have  passed  away,  let  a  Japanese 
scholar  translate  this  ancient  volume  into  the 
language  of  his  countrymen ;  and  the  Japanese 
of  that  day,  if  they  wish  to  find  fault  with  the 
book,  will  easily  be  able  to  do  so — readily  making 
that  which  should  have  been  for  their  enlighten- 
ment an  occasion  of  falling,  even  a  subject  of  jest 
and  gibe.  But  whether  they  would  show  their 
wisdom  or  unutterable  folly  by  so  doing  is  quite 
another  matter. 

3.  There  is  another  yet  greater  difficulty.  We 
have  not  the  original  manuscripts,  nor  is  there  a 
single  one  of  them  left  in  existence.  Although  the 
first  writings  date  back  three  thousand  five  hun- 
dred years,  no  known  Hebrew  manuscript  of  the 
Old  Testament  is  even  one  thousand  years  old.  It 
is  not  much  better  with  the  New.  Even  of  that 
we  have  nothing  that  S.  John  or  S.  Paul  or  S. 
Peter  ever  saw.  The  oldest  copy  we  have  was 
made  at  least  four  centuries  after  their  death.  It 
is  true  that  we  have  a  large  number  of  early  manu- 
script copies,  yet,  as  they  all  differ  somewhat  from 
each  other,  although  in  the  main  agreeing,  their 
very    numbers   add    to    our   difficulties.      If   the 


204  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

trumpet  gives  an  uncertain  sound,  how  can  we 
know  what  is  piped  or  harped  ?  Who  is  to  tell  us, 
among  thousands  of  different  readings,  which 
particular  one  is  correct? 

There  are  other  so-called  difficulties,  which 
come  through  changes  in  the  meaning  of  words 
in  our  own  language.  We  are  told  that  the  Bi- 
ble is  inconsistent;  that  in  one  place  God  is  said 
to  have  tempted  Abraham,  and  in  another  that 
He  tempts  no  man.  But  there  is  no  substantial 
contradiction  in  that.  The  word  "  tempt  "  is  often 
used  in  the  sense  of  testing : 

"  Whom  shall  we  find 

Sufficient  ?     Who  shall  hvNpt  with  wandering  feet 

The  dark,  unbottomed,  infinite  abyss  ?  " 

These  are  some  of  the  difficulties.  How  do  we 
meet  them? 

First,  we  would  ask,  What,  in  this  connection, 
is  meant  by  the  word  "  difficulty  ?  "  To  what  has 
it  reference,  and  what  is  its  precise  force  ?  If  it 
is  meant  that  we  shall  find  it  difficult,  in  view  of 
such  facts  as  we  have  mentioned,  to  accept  the 
Bible,  just  as  we  now  have  it  printed,  as  in  every 
particular  the  very  Word  of  God,  then  we  frankly 
admit  that  these  are  difficulties,  and  that  they 
are  insuperable ;  we  can  no  more  overcome  them 


THE   BIBLE  205 

than  we  can  *'bind  the  sweet  influences  of  -Plei- 
ades, or  loose  the  bands  of  Orion."  ^  But  we  are 
not  committed  to  any  such  hopeless  enterprise. 
Our  English  Bible  is  but  a  translation — one  out 
of  man}^  such — made  by  fallible  men  from  docu- 
ments which  have  been  copied  and  recopied 
by  many  hands  during  many  ages.  But  these 
men  —  copyists,  printers,  translators  —  received 
no  gift  of  infallibility,  and  it  were  foolish  to  claim 
perfection  for  their  work. 

But  those  difficulties  are  no  obstacles  at  all  in 
the  way  of  our  accepting  that  same  Bible  as  sub- 
stantially what  prophets  and  Apostles  delivered 
from  God  so  many  generations  ago.  We  have 
the  highest  authority — that  of  our  Lord  Himself 
— for  saying  that  even  the  Old  Testament  is  a 
faithful  representation  of  that  Word  of  God,  and 
is  binding  upon  us. 

But,  admitting  all  this,  we  may  be  told  that  this 
is  but  the  fringe  of  the  difficulties ;  that  the  diffi- 
culties are  really  such  as  these  :  First,  that  the 
contents  of  the  Bible  do  not  appear  to  point  to  a  di- 
vine origin  ;  for,  to  say  nothing  of  such  statements 
as  are  palpably  inconsistent  with  science  —  as,  e.g., 
the  account  of  the  Creation — there  are  others  as 

1  Job  xxxviii.  31. 


206  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

palpably  inconsistent  with  common  sense,  such  as 
the  account  of  Balaam's  ass  and  of  the  sun  stand- 
ing still  at  Joshua's  command.  Secondly,  that 
the  story  of  the  Bible,  taken  as  a  whole,  from  a 
moral  and  metaphysical  standpoint,  is  entirely 
inconsistent  with  the  ideas  of  mercy  and  justice, 
of  benevolence  and  Almighty  power,  and  that  in 
consequence  men  distinguished  by  scientific  at- 
tainments and  by  brilliant  ability,  after  careful  in- 
quiry into  the  evidences  of  its  truth,  are  convinced 
that  it  is  not  divine.  Here  is  an  impeachment 
that  in  truth  burns  all  the  bridges  behind. 

What  answer  do  we  make  to  these  objections? 

I.  Well,  first  of  all,  we  object  to  its  being  taken 
for  granted  that  all  men  of  intelligence  are  against 
the  Bible.  If  it  were  a  question  of  authority. 
Christian  men  would  have  the  advantage.  The 
greatest  scientific  philosopher  ever  vouchsafed  to 
the  world  was  a  fervent  believer  in  God's  Word. 
Sir  Isaac  New^ton,  whose  marble  statue  in  West- 
minster Abbey  represents  him  as  weighing  the 
sun  with  the  steelyard  of  his  philosophy,  pro- 
claimed his  belief  that  nature  and  scripture  ''are 
alike  two  books  written  by  one  and  the  same 
hand — the  hand  of  the  Living  God."  And  New- 
ton is  but  chief  among  ten   thousand,  a  goodly 


THE   BIBLE  20/ 

array.  Herschel,  first  of  astronomers ;  John  Mil- 
ton, among  the  poets  ;  Agassiz,  among  the  scien- 
tists ;  Hugh  Miller,  among  the  geologists  and 
most  graceful  among  the  writers  ;  Washington 
and  Wellington  among  the  soldiers  ;  Daniel  Web- 
ster and  William  E.  Gladstone  among  the  states- 
men, these  and  countless  others  have  all  been  be- 
lievers in  God's  Word. 

2.  Next,  we  sa}-  that  the  Bible  has  suffered  from 
its  friends.  Most  foolishly  has  it  been  forced  by 
these  to  bear  literal  interpretations  where  none 
were  meant.  Because  the  Psalmist  poetically  as- 
serted that  God  had  made  the  round  world  so 
sure  that  it  could  not  be  moved,  Galileo  was  com- 
pelled to  deny  that  it  did  move !  Even  Calvin 
thought  that  verse  proved  that  the  earth  was  at 
rest  in  the  heavens;  and  Columbus  was  charged 
with  impiety  for  believing  in  the  existence  of  land 
beyond  the  sea,  since  the  prophets  and  evange- 
lists were  all  clearly  against  him  !  Yet  why  take 
such  a  verse  literally,  and  not  also  this? — ''The 
stars  in  their  courses  fought  against  Sisera  :  "  Or 
this :  ''  The  hills  melted  like  wax  in  the  presence 
of  the  Lord."  Consistency,  thou  art  a  jewel ; 
sadly  is  thy  presence  needed  here  even  in  the 
camp  of  the  faithful. 


^ 


208  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

3.  Moreover,  the  Bible  was  never  intended  to 
teach  science  or  astronomy,  or  aught,  indeed,  but 
spiritual  truths.  What  matters  it  therefore  even 
if  its  language  is  not  scientifically  correct?  We 
have  only  to  remember  that  it  is  not  a  text-book 
of  science,  and  every  objection  to  it  based  upon 
such  assumption  falls  harmlessly  to  the  ground  as 
an  arrow  against  an  iron-clad.  Do  we  not,  even 
now,  speak  to  unlearned  people  in  such  language 
as  they  may  best  understand,  without  regard  to 
mere  technicalities  ? 

4.  But  what  of  the  incredible  element  in  the 
Bible  ?  There  is  no  incredible  element.  Granted 
a  God  of  infinite  power,  there  is  nothing  in  the 
Bible  we  could  not  believe  if  it  were  plainly  stated 
on  sufficient  testimony. 

The   speaking  of  the  prophet's  ass  is   perhaps 

not  really  so  very  remarkable  an  instance  of  God's 

power  as  some  others.     We  ourselves  have  often 

heard  persons  of  very  limited  intelligence    who 

have  had  in  a  large  measure  the  gift  of  speech. 

Human  speech  is,  in  fact,  not  necessarily  linked 

with  intelligence  of  an  high  order.     Even  parrots 

j/^>can  talk.     Still,  we  are  not  at  all  sure  that  we  are 

ci         expected  to  believe  that  the  ass  spoke.    Balaam, 

^   ij-)'     it  has  been   suggested,  as  a  superstitious  augur, 


THE   BIBLE  2O9 

would  naturally  give  some  interpretation  to  the 
cries  of  the  animal,  just  as  the  later  augurs  of 
Rome  did  to  the  cackling  of  the  sacred  geese  ;  for, 
be  it  remembered,  only  from  this  soothsayer  him- 
self could  this  account  have  come. 

Nor  do  we  admit  that  the  Bible  states  that  at 
the  command  of  Joshua  the  sun  stood  still ;  for  it 
simply  states  that  the  story  to  that  effect  ''  is  writ- 
ten in  the  Book  of  Jasher."  The  ''  Book  of  Jasher," 
however,  forms  no  part  of  the  Scriptures.  Never- 
theless, if  the  evidence  were  conclusive  in  favor 
of  a  pause  in  the  onward  sweep  of  the  universe, 
we  should  believe  it.  He  who  made  the  sun  can 
do  what  He  will,  bidding  it  stand  or  move  as  He 
directs. 

But  ad  bono  ?  After  all  it  is  but  an  incident  in 
a  plan  of  campaign.  Every  age  has  its  battle  field 
over  religion.  The  doors  of  our  Temple  of  Janus 
are  rarely  long  shut.  Continually  the  warning 
voice  is  heard — 

"  Soldiers  of  Christ,  arise, 
And  put  your  armor  on  ! " 

At  such  time  the  enemy  crieth  so,  and  the  ungod- 
ly Cometh  on  so  fast,  and  their  voices  against  all 
revealed   religion  are  heard  shouting  from  afar : 
14 


210  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

''Down  with  it!  Down  with  it — even  to  the 
ground !  " 

To-day  the  casus  belli  may  be  this,  to-morrow 
that.  But  there  is  no  discharge  in  this  war ;  the 
enemy  is  always  in  the  field.  Just  now  a  science, 
falsely  so  called,  a  blind  agnosticism  and  hopeless 
materialism,  with  their  forces  joined,  have  set 
themselves  together  in  battle-array  against  the 
Word  of  God.  A  strange  hate  animates  some,  an 
unseen  power  goads  them.  They  tell  us  they  are 
confident  of  victory.  But  we  are  not  anxious. 
All  the  powers  of  darkness  can  do  nothing  against 
the  truth.  Truth,  like  the  strong  mountains,  may 
not  be  removed,  but  standeth  fast  forever.  En- 
throned where  no  mortal  can  touch  her,  we  need 
tremble  no  more  for  her  than  for  God.  "  The 
grass  withereth,  the  flower  fadeth,  but  the  Word 
of  God  shall  stand  forever."  ^ 

The  confidence  of  this  new  enemy  astonishes 
us,  as  we  can  see  nothing  to  justify  it.  Christians 
can  alwa3'S  appeal  to  the  fulfilled  past  as  guaran- 
teeing the  promised  future.  They  can  show  that 
types  have  been  fulfilled,  prophecies  have  come 
to  pass.  They  rest  on  experience.  They  can  say  : 
"  We  know,"  and  out  of  that  ground  of  certainty 

1  Isaiah  xl.  8. 


THE   BIBLE  211 

they  cannot  be  cast.  They  are  as  men  who, 
knowing  that  the  tide  has  rolled  in  for  thousands 
of  years,  doubt  not  at  all,  and  cannot  doubt,  but 
that  it  will  roll  in  again  on  the  morrow ;  or  as 
men  who,  knowing  that  thousands  of  harvests 
have  been  reaped,  are  sure  that  ''while  the  earth 
remaineth,  seedtime  and  harvest,  and  cold  and 
heat,  and  summer  and  winter,  and  day  and  night 
shall  not  cease."  ^ 

But  to  what  do  these  scoffers  point  ?  Not  to 
the  past,  surely.  Glance  for  a  moment  backward 
at  the  past.  Voltaire  has  been  for  long  the  fore- 
most prophet  of  the  men  who  are  without  God  in 
the  world — the  patriarch,  as  he  mockingly  styled 
himself,  of  the  holy  philosophical  Church.  Un- 
mindful of  the  risks  that  prophets  run  who  do  not 
set  the  fulfilment  of  their  prophecies  far  enough 
in  advance,  he  rashly  predicted  that  in  the  nine- 
teenth century  the  Bible  would  not  be  read,  and 
added  besides,  that  in  one  hundred  years  Chris- 
tianity itself  would  have  passed  into  history ! 
We  are  now  in  the  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth 
century — yet,  so  far  is  that  prophecy  from  hav- 
ing been  fulfilled,  that,  as  by  a  strange  Nemesis, 
Voltaire's  own  printing-press  has  been  used  for 

1  Gen.  viii.  22. 


212  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

printing  Bibles,  and  his  house  is  now  a  depot  of 
the  Geneva  Bible  Society ! 

The  Bible  not  read  in  the  nineteenth  century ! 
It  is  read  even  more  than  ever  before.  There  are 
now  more  than  eighty  Bible  societies  in  existence. 
One  of  these — the  British  and  Foreign — last  year 
printed  no  less  than  3,000,000  copies.  For  every 
minute  of  the  day  and  of  the  night  all  through 
the  year,  without  a  single  pause,  five  copies  of 
the  Bible  are  sent  forth  by  this  one  society  alone. 
As  the  mighty  Niagara,  ever  flowing  on,  is  every 
day  flinging  millions  of  gallons  into  the  St.  Law- 
rence, so  the  streams  of  Divine  Truth,  even  more 
mighty  in  volume  and  more  resistless  in  power, 
are  flowing  over  this  sin-stained  world.  Every 
week  chronicles  some  new  triumph  of  the  Word 
— among  the  latest  of  these  being  the  recent 
grateful  reception  by  the  Dowager  Empress  of 
China  of  a  copy  of  that  Word  translated  into  her 
own  tongue,  and  its  translation  into  the  language 
of  the  Basukuma  people,  in  Central  Africa — the 
320th  language  into  which  the  Bible  has  been 
translated  ! 

The  Bible  is  daily  being  read  more  and  more. 
Christianity  has  not  passed  into  history,  but  Vol- 
taire has.     Not  long  after  his  death,  the  services 


THE   BIBLE  213 

of  the  nurse  of  his  dying  hours  were  sought  for  in 
a  similar  case.  ''  Is  he  a  Christian  ?  "  was  the  ready 
question.  ''  Yes,  a  faithful  and  true  one.  But 
why  ?  "  "  Because  I  saw  Voltaire  die,  and  nothing 
on  earth  will  induce  me  to  witness  another  such 
death." 

Far,  however,  from  there  being  any  visible 
prospects  of  its  speedy  disappearance,  the  Bible 
is  to-day  not  only  being  more  widely  read  and 
more  widely  circulated,  but  is  daily  coming  to  fill 
a  larger  space  in  business  life  and  a  surer  place  in 
the  affections  of  mankind.  And  this  in  no  small 
measure  because  we  are  beginning  to  know  it  bet- 
ter. We  stood  in  need  of  this  knowledge.  It  was 
a  rude  shock  to  many  when  the  Revised  Version 
first  came  out.  They  had  thought  of  the  v/riters 
of  the  Bible  as  simple  amanuenses  writing  down 
from  angelic  dictation  what  God  had  said,  just  as 
the  old  artists  loved  to  represent  them,  and  every 
word  was  God's  Word.  But  when  that  version 
revealed  errors  here  and  mistranslations  there,  the 
very  foundations  seemed  to  them  thrown  down. 
As  soon,  however,  as  they  had  recovered  from 
their  consternation,  they  saw  clearly  that  it  was 
not  the  Bible,  but  their  own  ideas  of  it,  which 
needed  revision.    And  now  we  hesitate  not,  in  the 


214  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

light  of  this  new  knowledge,  to  say  that  the  more 
fully  the  Bible  is  known,  the  more  distinctly  is  it 
seen  to  be  the  Word  of  God  to  man — a  light  to 
lighten  man's  feet  and  a  lantern  unto  his  path : 

"  Lord,  Thy  Word  abideth, 
And  our  footsteps  guideth  ; 
Who  its  truth  believeth, 
Light  and  joy  receiveth." 

We  once  steamed  up  a  deep  inlet  of  the  Atlan- 
tic Ocean  into  the  Island  of  Newfoundland.  The 
scenery  was  as  grand  and  striking  as  that  of  a 
Norway  fjord,  and  very  similar.  The  inlet  con- 
sisted of  what  appeared  to  be  a  succession  of 
lakes.  As  the  steamer  passed  into  one  after  an- 
other, no  outlet  was  visible  beyond.  Once  within, 
there  appeared  to  be  a  perfectly  landlocked  sheet 
of  water.  A  few  minutes'  steaming,  however,  re- 
vealed an  opening  through  which  we  presently 
glided,  only  to  emerge  upon  the  bosom  of  another 
lake,  and  to  find  ourselves  in  the  midst  of  a  simi- 
lar scene.  At  last  we  reached  the  head,  when  all 
our  difficulties  were  over.  Simply  going  forward 
had  solved  them.  They  did  not,  in  fact,  exist. 
So  with  the  Bible  : — Go  right  on  ;  take  it  for  what 
it  claims  to  be,  not  for  what  you  have  perhaps 


THE   BIBLE  215 

made  it  in  your  own  fertile  imagination — and  all 
will  be  well.  Let  men  draw  near  in  reverence, 
and  in  a  spirit  willing  to  learn,  and  the  Book  will 
do  its  own  work.  "  The  secret  of  the  Lord  is  with 
them  that  fear  Him,  and  He  will  show  them  His 
covenant."  ^ 

1  Ps.  xxv.  14. 


XIL 
THE  BIBLE   IN   THE   CHURCH 


XII. 
THE  BIBLE   IN    THE  CHURCH 

"  A  glory  gilds  the  sacred  page 
Majestic  as  the  sun  : 
It  gives  a  light  to  every  age, 
It  gives,  but  borrows  none." 

— COWPER. 

There  are  three  very  distinct  theories  with 
respect  to  the  place  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  the 
Church. 

I.  First,  the  Denominational  Theory. — 
This  is  the  theory  held  by  such  bodies  of  Chris- 
tians as  the  Methodists,  the  Congregationalists, 
and  the  Baptists.  In  perfect  accord,  as  one  man, 
all  these  bodies  will  affirm,  with  Chillingworth : 
''  The  Bible,  and  the  Bible  only,  is  the  religion  of 
Protestants."     To  all  such  it  is 

"  The  only  star 
By  which  the  bark  of  man  can  navigate 
The  sea  of  life,  and  gain  the  court  of  bliss 
Securely." 


220  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

They  assume  that  in  possession  of  a  Bible,  the 
Protestant  Christian  is  fully  competent  to  know- 
God's  will ;  hencefoi'th  he  is  independent  of  all 
human  intervention ;  he  needs  neither  priest  nor 
Church  to  stand  between  him  and  God.  Why 
should  he?  What  can  they  tell  him  that  he  does 
not  know  ?  What  offer  him  that  he  does  not  al- 
ready possess?  He  fully  believes,  with  Macaulay, 
that  a  Christian  with  the  Bible  in  his  hand  in  the 
nineteenth  century,  is  in  just  as  favorable  a  posi- 
tion for  serving  God  as  men  have  been  at  any 
time  since  Christ  left  this  earth. 

The  ideas  of  such  Christians  as  to  what  is  "The 
Church"  are  not,  of  course,  ours;  and,  we  being 
the  judges,  they  are  not  well  founded.  But  what- 
ever they  may  be,  they  are  not  intentionall}^  in 
conflict  with  the  Bible.  To  those  who  hold  them, 
as  the  heaven  is  higher  than  the  earth,  so  is  the 
Bible  higher  than  the  Church.  The  Church  is  of 
man ;  the  Bible  is  of  God.  The  Church  is  imper- 
fect; the  Bible  perfect.  We  summon  here  but  one 
witness,  a  confessedl}^  competent  witness,  and  then 
we  proceed.  "  This  is  the  word  of  God,"  '  said 
the  late  C.  H.  Spurgeon;  "come,  search,  ye  crit- 
ics, and  find  a  flaw  ;  examine  it,  from  its  Genesis  to 

'  Sermons,  vol.  i.,  p.  31. 


THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   CHURCH  221 

its  Revelation,  and  find  an  error.  This  is  a  vein 
of  pure  gold,  unalloyed  by  quartz,  or  any  earthly 
substance.  This  is  a  star  without  a  speck ;  a  sun 
without  a  blot;  a  light  without  darkness  ;  a  moon 
without  its  paleness ;  a  glory  without  dimness. 
O  Bible !  it  cannot  be  said  of  any  other  book 
that  it  is  perfect  and  pure ;  but  of  thee  v/e  can 
declare  all  wisdom  is  gathered  up  in  thee,  without 
a  particle  of  folly.  This  is  the  judge  that  ends 
the  strife,  where  wit  and  wisdom  fail.  This  is  the 
book  untainted  by  any  error ;  but  is  pure,  unal- 
loyed, perfect  truth."  No  one  can  say  that  this 
trumpet  gives  an  uncertain  sound. 

2.  The  Roman  Catholic  Theory. — This  is 
the  exact  opposite  of  the  Protestant,  for  the  ex- 
istence of  which  we  believe  it  to  be  largely  re- 
sponsible. Its  teaching  is  that  not  the  Bible, 
but  the  Church,  is  supreme ;  that  the  Bible  holds 
only  a  secondary  place  in  the  economy  of  grace, 
as  being  but  a  partial  and  incomplete  revelation 
of  God's  will  to  man.  Yet  the  Roman  Bible  is 
larger  than  that  in  Protestant  hands  !  It  contains 
the  Apocr3^pha,  which  the  other  does  not.  Yet, 
notwithstanding  this  apparent  advantage,  the  Ro- 
man Church,  still  unsatisfied  with  Scripture,  anath- 
ematizes all  who  hold  Scripture  to  be  a  sufficient 


222  IN   THE    HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

revelation  of  God's  will  to  man.  It  asserts  that 
tradition  is  also  necessarj^;  and  more  than  all, 
that  whosoever  will  be  saved  must  hear  and  obey 
the  voice  of  the  Living  Church. 

Ask  what  necessary  things  tradition  tells  us, 
and  a  Roman  Cardinal,  the  famous  Bellarmine,  is 
ready  with  a  list.  But  such  a  list,  forsooth  !  Ex 
ujw  disce  omnia.  We  are  gravely  informed  that 
tradition  was  needed  to  tell  us  how  women  were 
saved  under  the  law  !  What  solemn  triflinor  is 
this !  An  Atlantic  liner,  reversing  its  engines  in 
mid-ocean  to  look  for  a  drowning  kitten,  is,  in 
comparison,  an  inspiring  sight.  A  great  Church 
brings  out  bell,  book,  and  candle  to  condemn 
those  who  cannot  be  persuaded  that  a  knowledge 
of  such  trifles  is  really  necessary  to  salvation. 
Wh}^  we  could  not  have  a  more  cogent  argument 
than  this  to  persuade  men  that  Scripture  is  alone 
the  one  fount  of  all  our  spiritual  knowledge. 

3.  The  Anglo-Catholic  Theory.  This  oc- 
cupies the  middle  ground  between  the  Denomi- 
national and  the  Roman,  and  nowhere  is  the  via 
media  between  the  two  extremes  of  Denomina- 
tionalism  and  Papalism  more  clearl}^  seen  than 
here. 

This  Church  loves  the  Bible  as  much  as  the  ex- 


THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    CHURCH  223 

tremest  Protestant  can  ever  love  it.  She  delights 
to  do  it  honor.  She  assigns  it  an  exalted  place 
in  her  Services,  bringing  it  prominently  forv/ard, 
reading  it  publicly  from  end  to  end,  providing 
that  a  considerable  portion  of  it  shall  be  read  at 
every  Service  which  she  offers  to  God,  making 
it  the  final  Court  of  x\ppeal  in  all  matters  of  faith, 
telling  her  children  that  they  must  look  there  for 
the  authority  for  ever3^thing  that  she  teaches,  ''  so 
that  whatsoever  is  not  read  therein,  nor  may  be 
proved  thereby,  is  not  to  be  required  of  any  man, 
that  it  should  be  believed  as  an  article  of  the  Faith, 
or  be  thought  requisite  or  necessary  to  salvation."  ^ 
She  sends  all  inquirers  *'  To  the  law  and  to  the 
testimony :  if  the}^  speak  not  according  to  this 
word,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in  them."  ^  No 
Protestant  sect  does  more  than  this  ;  nor,  indeed, 
as  much.  Not  one  assigns  such  an  honored  place 
to  the  Word  of  God  in  any  of  its  public  Services 
as  this  Church  assigns  in  every  Service  she  ren- 
ders. 

On  the  other  hand,  however,  the  Church  will 
not  thrust  the  Bible  into  a  place  which  it  was 
never  intended  to  fill.     She  cannot  speak  of  it  as 

*  Articles  of  Religion,  Art.  vi. — Prayer-Book,  p.  557. 
9  Isaiah  viii.  20. 


224  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

the  only  religion  of  men.  She  is  with  the  Roman 
Church  upon  that  point.  She  cannot  accept  the 
denominational  theory  if  she  would.  Holy  Script- 
ure is  her  child,  which  through  a  long  life  she  has 
guarded  with  all  a  mother's  care,  and  with  all  a 
mother's  love.  She  is  still  its  witness  and  keeper ; 
but  her  life  is  not  dependent  upon  it,  any  more 
than  a  mother's  life  is  dependent  upon  her  off- 
spring. She  is  built,  not  upon  the  Book,  but 
upon  the  Rock,  our  Blessed  Lord  Himself ;  and  if 
a  worse  than  Diocletian  persecution  should  con- 
sume the  Scriptures  to-morrow,  she  Avould  still 
hold  intact  the  authority  to  teach  the  truth  once 
for  all  committed  to  the  saints,  and  in  that  teach- 
ing men  would  find  that  the  Word  of  God  lived 
on.  Such,  then,  is  the  place  of  the  Bible  in  our 
Anglo-Catholic  Church. 

Now,  these  three  different  theories  as  to  the 
place  of  the  Bible  have  had  their  marked  effect 
upon  the  Christian  bodies  which  respectively 
hold  them,  as  well  as  on  their  treatment  of  the 
Bible  itself.  Mark  the  result  of  the  Denomina- 
tional theory  among  its  followers.  Refusing  the 
help  of  the  Church  and  relying  only  on  them- 
selves, many  well-meaning  Protestants  have  found 
apparently  not  merely  things  hard,  but  things  im- 


THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   CHURCH  22  5 

possible  to  understand  in  Holy  Scripture,  and 
they  have  in  consequence  let  them  severely  alone. 
Others  they  have  delighted  in,  but  at  the  cost  of 
the  entire  exclusion  of  these  more  difficult  say- 
ings. They  have  forgotten  that  ''all  Scripture  is 
given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for 
doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruc- 
tion in  righteousness  ;  that  the  man  of  God  may 
be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good 
works."  ^ 

We  mentioned  a  while  ago  the  late  Mr.  Spur- 
geon.  No  preacher  in  our  day  has  continuously 
held  through  as  many  years  so  vast  a  congrega- 
tion together.  But  his  great  power  Avas  not  so 
much  seen  in  his  preaching  as  in  his  exposition  of 
Scripture.  Yet  it  has  been  said  that  never  once, 
among  all  the  expositions  he  gave,  among  all  the 
sermons  he  preached,  did  he  ever  expound  the 
words  :  "  Whosesoever  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  re- 
mitted unto  them ;  and  whosesoever  sins  ye  re- 
tain they  are  retained."^  Why?  It  was  not  be- 
cause that  is  an  obscure  verse,  easily  overlooked  ; 
still  less  because  all  are  agreed  about  its  meaning. 
We  are  led  to  believe  that  the  reason  was,  that 

i2  Tim.  iii.  i6,  17. 
2S.  John  XX.  23. 

15 


226  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

on  no  conceivable,  honest  interpretation  —  and 
Spurgeon  was  honest — had  that  text  any  place  in 
the  Baptist  exposition.  That  vast  congregation 
did  not  receive  its  due  proportion  of  teaching, 
because  it  would  not.  It  was  a  textuist  congre- 
gation, whose  very  existence  depended  upon  the 
magnifying  of  certain  prominent  verses  and  the 
forgetfulness  of  others.  Thus  large  sections  of 
the  Bible  are  left  as  unexplored  regions  to  many 
of  our  separated  brethren. 

The  effect  of  Roman  teaching  is  precisely  the 
same.  Extremes  here  meet,  as  so  often  elsewhere. 
That,  too,  has  belittled  Scripture,  though  by  the 
opposite  process.  The  incorporation  of  what 
were  at  best  but  ecclesiastical  writings,  as  part  of 
the  Divine  Word  (we  speak  of  the  Apocrj^pha), 
was  the  first  step  ;  and  the  acknowledgment  of 
tradition  as  of  equal  authority  was  the  next, 
which  well  prepared  men  for  the  final  assertion 
of  the  supreme  authority  of  every  utterance  of 
the  Church,  even  when  such  utterance  plainly 
contradicted  the  written  word  of  God.  For  a 
second  time  in  history  men  *'  had  made  the  com- 
mandment of  God  of  none  effect  by  their  tradi- 
tions." 1     What  this  means   let  the  following  pa- 

1  Matt.  XV.  6. 


THE   BIBLE   IN  THE   CHURCH  22/ 

thetic  story  tell  ;  its  singularly  touching  interest 
amply  justifying  the  recital : 

The  Indians  of  Oregon,  having  heard  that  the 
white  man  had  a  Book,  and  that  it  was  the  Book 
of  God,  the  Great  Spirit,  determined  to  send  a 
deputation  —  two  of  the  chief  Sachems  and  two 
young  braves — to  St.  Louis  to  ask  for  a  copy. 
They  travelled  three  thousand  miles  on  their  re- 
markable mission  only  to  meet  with  disappoint- 
ment, the  two  old  men  dying  in  that  city  ;  the  two 
younger  nowhere  meeting  among  its  Roman 
Catholic  population  anyone  who  would  further 
the  great  object  of  their  journey,  although  treated 
everywhere  with  great  kindness  and  courtesy. 
The  farewell  speech  of  one  of  the  survivors,  made 
in  the  Council-room  of  the  American  Fur  Com- 
pany, is  one  of  the  most  touching  pieces  of  Indian 
eloquence  on  record.  ''  I  came  to  you,"  he  said, 
"  over  a  trail  of  many  moons  from  the  setting  sun. 
You  were  the  friends  of  my  fathers,  who  have  all 
gone  the  long  way.  I  came  with  one  eye  partly 
opened,  for  more  light  for  my  people,  who  sit  in 
darkness.  I  go  back  with  both  eyes  closed.  How 
can  I  go  back  blind  to  my  blind  people  ?  I  made 
my  way  to  you  with  strong  arms,  through  many 
enemies  and  strange   lands,  that  I  might   carry 


228  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

much  to  them.  I  go  back  with  both  arms  broken 
and  empty.  The  two  fathers  who  came  with  us— 
the  braves  of  many  winters  and  wars — we  leave 
asleep  here  by  your  great  water  and  wigwam. 
They  were  tired  in  many  moons  and  their  moc- 
casins wore  out.  My  people  sent  me  to  get  the 
white  man's  Book  of  Heaven.  You  took  me 
where  you  allow  your  women  to  dance,  as  we  do 
not  ours,  and  the  Book  was  not  there.  You  took 
me  where  they  worship  the  Great  Spirit  with 
candles,  and  the  Book  was  not  there.  You 
showed  me  the  images  of  good  spirits  and  pict- 
ures of  the  good  land  beyond,  but  the  Book  was 
not  among  them  to  tell  us  the  way.  I  am  going 
back  the  long  sad  trail  to  my  people  of  the  dark 
land.  You  make  me  feel  heavy  with  burdens  of 
gifts,  and  my  moccasins  will  grow  old  in  carrying 
them,  but  the  Book  is  not  among  them.  When 
I  tell  my  poor  blind  people,  after  one  more  snow, 
in  the  big  council,  that  I  did  not  bring  the  Book, 
no  word  will  be  spoken  by  our  old  men  nor 
by  our  j^oung  braves.  One  by  one  they  will 
rise  up  and  go  out  in  silence.  My  people  will 
die  in  darkness  and  they  will  go  on  the  long 
path  to  the  other  hunting  ground.  No  white 
man    will    go    with    them,    and    no    white    man's 


THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    CHURCH  229 

Book  to  make  the  way  plain.  I  have  no  more 
words." 

Mark,  however,  the  effect  of  the  theory  of  the 
Anglican-Catholic  Church.  She  stands  to-day  as 
she  has  always  stood,  for  an  open  Bible. 

In  the  old  Parish  Church  at  Chelsea,  in  London, 
the  church  in  which  Sir  Thomas  More  was  buried; 
in  whose  rectory  Charles  Kingsley  grew  to  man- 
hood, destined  to  be  a  Canon  of  Westminster,  a 
poet,  a  novelist,  and  many  things  beside ;  in  the 
graveyard  of  which  rests  Woodfall,  the  publisher 
of  the  ''Letters  of  Junius;"  the  church  beside 
which  Carlyle,  the  Sage  of  Chelsea,  lived  his  life, 
there  is  chained  a  copy  of  the  scarce  "  Vinegar 
Bible,"  so  named  because  of  the  misprint  '^  Parable 
of  the  Vinegar,"  instead  of  "  Parable  of  the  Vine- 
yard." That  old  Bible  is  itself  a  parable,  telling 
its  story  of  how  the  Church  has  always  loved  to 
set  up  its  open  Bible, 

"  Plain  for  all  folk  to  see." 

But  m.indful  of  what  one  has  read  about  the  Bible 
being  hidden  away,  of  what  we  have  been  told  in 
an  eminently  dramatic  way  about  Luther  in  Ger- 
many unexpectedly  finding  a  copy  of  the  word  of 
God,  we  ask,  did  our  Church  in  pre-Reformation 


230  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

days  love  an  open  Bible,  as  she  undoubtedly  does 
now,  or  did  she  hide  it  away,  as  men  once  hid  the 
Apocrypha?  Read  some  books,  and  they  tell  us 
she  did  ;  read  others,  and  they  say  she  did  not. 
Can  both  be  right?  We  believe  that,  rightly  un- 
derstood, they  can. 

The  national  Church  of  England  was  ever  a 
Bible-loving  Church  ;  but  we  must  not  forget  that 
when  her  Roman  sister  held  her  in  bondage  they 
became  so  closely  identihed  with  each  other  as 
often  to  be  regarded  as  one  and  the  same. 

He  who  will  bear  these  facts  in  mind  will  have  no 
difiEculty  in  reconciling  these  apparently  contra- 
dictory accounts.  He  will  see  then  how  there 
ever  came  to  be  such  discordant  notes  in  a  Church 
which  claimed  the  famous  Columba,  whose  mis- 
sionary life  was  in  a  mysterious  way  solely  due  to 
his  earnest  desire  to  possess  a  copy  of  the  word  of 
God;  a  Church  whose  devoted  son,  the  venerable 
Bede,  heard  the  Master's  word  ''  It  is  finished," 
while  he  was  translating  S.  John's  Gospel,  and 
laid  down  his  pen  and  his  life  together;  whose 
King  Alfred,  most  loyal  of  sons,  held  it  as  his 
dearest  wish  that  "  all  the  free-born  youths  of 
England  should  employ  themselves  on  nothing 
until  they  could  first  read  well  the  English  Script- 


THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   CHURCH  23 1 

tures ; "   whose  famous   Rector    of    Lutterworth, 
John  Wyclif,  the  morning-star  of  the  Reformation, 
translated  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament  and 
half   the   Old ;    whose   William    Tyndale,   Greek 
scholar  and  man  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  set  it 
as  the  purpose  of  his  life  to  "  one  day  make  the 
boy  who  drives  the  plough  in  England  know  more 
of  Scripture  than  the  Pope  does  ; "  a  Church  which 
after  Tyndale's  death  set  up  Tyndale's  Bible  in 
every  parish  in  the  land  ;    which  had  so  taught 
the  youthful  King  Edward  VI.  to  value  the  Word 
of  God,  that  he  said,  when  at  his  coronation  the 
swords  were  delivered  to  him  as  King  of  England, 
France,  and  Ireland  :  ''  There  is  yet  another  sword 
to  be  delivered  to  me,  I  mean  the  Sacred  Bible, 
which  is   the  sword  of   the   Spirit,  and  without 
which   we  are  nothing,   neither  can  we  do  any- 
thing ; "  a  Church  which  greeted  with  a  Bible  his 
sister  Elizabeth  in    open  procession,  and    finally 
gave  us  that  authorized  version,  of  which  this  is 
the  testimony  of  an  erring  son,  '*  It  lives  on  the  ear 
like  music  that  can  never  be  forgotten ;  like  the 
sound  of  church  bells  which  the  convert  scarcely 
knows  how  he  can  forego  ;  it  is  part  of  the  national 
mind,  and  the  anchor  of  the  national  seriousness; 
it  is  the  representative  of  a  man's  best  moments  ; 


232  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

all  that  there  has  been  about  him  of  soft  and  gentle 
and  pure  and  penitent  and  good  speaks  to  him  for- 
ever out  of  his  English  Bible." 

It  was  not  of  the  will  of  the  Anglican  Church  to 
hide  the  word  of  God,  but  of  her  foreign  sister. 
The  Anglican  loved,  the  Roman  feared  that  Word. 
But  so  closely  were  they  for  a  while  bound  to- 
gether that  they  seemed  but  one — but  in  that  one 
there  appeared  to  be  a  double  personality — a  Dr. 
Jekyll  and  a  Mr.  Hyde.  But,  unlike  Stevenson's 
well-known  stor}^  the  Jekyll  triumphed.  An  open 
Bible  has  ever  been  the  possession  of  the  Anglican 
Church.  But  as  in  the  story,  so  in  the  history ; 
there  were  in  England  times  when  the  Hyde  got 
the  upper  hand,  when  mutilations  and  burnings 
were  the  order  of  the  day ;  and  again  times  when 
the  true  man  appeared  and  there  was  peace.  Let 
that  fanciful  story  illustrate  our  meaning. 

It  was  Jekyll  fighting  for  God's  word ;  it  was 
Hyde  digging  up  Wyclif's  bones  and  burning 
them,  for  that  he  had  *'  made  the  Scriptures  com- 
mon and  more  open  to  laymen  and  to  women  than 
it  was  wont  to  be  to  clerks  well  learned  and  of 
good  understanding,  so  that  the  pearl  of  the  Gos- 
pel was  trodden  under  the  foot  of  swine."  It  was 
Hyde  that  sentenced  those  found  reading  Wyclif's 


THE  BIBLE   IN  THE   CHURCH  233 

translation  to  be  burned  with  copies  of  it  round 
their  necks,  and  that  smiled  to  see  Christ's  no- 
blest in  their  agony :  Hyde,  that  strangled  Tyn- 
dale  at  the  stake.  It  was  Jekyll  that  was  translat- 
ing, copying,  printing,  and  spreading  that  Word 
broadcast. 

But  as  the  bright,  blue,  clear  Rhone  conquers 
the  thick  yellow  Arve,  so  Jekyll  conquered  Hyde 
and  an  open  Bible  was  the  result.  And  to-day  our 
Church  is  emphatically  the  Church  of  the  Bible. 
She  reads  it  through  and  through,  and  hesitates 
not  to  rest  the  proof  of  her  own  claims  to  be  in- 
deed commissioned  by  Almighty  God,  on  the  evi- 
dences she  can  collect  from  its  pages.  There  is 
no  Church  which  has  done  more  for  scholarship 
than  she  has,  but  she  turns  from  the  works  of  the 
greatest  of  her  sons  to  the  Word  which  she  re- 
ceived, not  from  man,  but  from  God.  She  wel- 
comes tradition  and  all  the  teachings  of  the 
Fathers,  but  only  as  illustrating  that  Word  and 
making  its  meaning  clearer.  She  welcomes  the 
Apocrypha  and  writes  it  on  "  the  blank  page," 
between  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  reading 
it  sometimes  in  the  Church  as  she  does  Canonical 
Scripture,  yet  not  to  establish  any  doctrine,  but 
only  for  instruction  in  life  and  manners.     She   is 


234  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

sound  in  her  loyalty  to  the  One  Book  of  God. 
She  will  allow  nothing  to  enter  into  rivalry  or 
competition  with  it : 

"  The  Church  from  her  dear  Master, 
Received  the  gift  Divine, 
And  still  that  light  she  lifteth 
O'er  all  the  earth  to  shine." 


XIII. 
THE   BOOK   OF   COMMON   PRAYER 


XIII. 
THE   BOOK   OF    COMMON    PRAYER 

"  What !     Prayer  by  the  book  ?  and  common  ? 
Yes.     Why  not  ? 
The  spirit  of  grace 
And  suppHcation, 
Is  not  left  free  alone 
For  time  and  place  ; 
But  manner  too.     To  read  or  speak  by  rote 
Is  all  alike  to  him  that  prays 
With  's  heart,  that  with  his  mouth  he  says." 

—Herbert. 

Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  tells  us  of  the  extreme 
disappointment  with  which  he  first  beheld  Ra- 
phael's famous  picture  of  the  Transfiguration.  It 
Avas  only  as  he  came  to  look  at  it  again  and  again 
that  the  picture  grew  upon  him,  until  he  saw 
clearly  the  handiwork  of  genius.  Not  at  first 
did  he  realize  its  worth. 

Just  so  does  the  Prayer-Book  grow  upon  us. 
Not  until  we  have  come  close  to  it  do  we  per- 


238  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF  FAITH 

ceive  the  sweetness  of  its  harmonies,  or  the  great- 
ness of  its  soul-uplifting  powers.  Till  then  it  is 
as  a  sealed  book.  We  cannot  do  with  it  as  we 
do  with  mountain  scenery — admire  it  at  a  great 
distance  ;  we  must  draw  near  to  it ;  we  must  pray 
its  prayers  and  drink  of  its  spirit ;  then  its  beau- 
ties and  its  comforts,  all  hidden  before,  will  start 
out  into  glittering  brilliance.  As  one  look- 
ing up  into  the  heavens  on  a  clear  night,  per- 
ceives at  first  few  only  of  the  stars,  but,  continu- 
ing to  gaze,  sees  at  last  that  the  heavens  are  all 
ablaze  with  light,  so  one  looking  at  this  book 
gradually  sees  one  bright  jewel  after  another 
flashing  on  his  sight,  until  the  whole  becomes  as  a 
coal  of  living  fire  from  the  Altar  of  God  ! 

Here,  indeed,  is  the  secret  of  the  eventual 
breakdown  of  all  opposition  to  the  Prayer-Book. 
Years  ago  opposition  was  strong  and  w^idespread. 
But  now  it  is  dying  out,  and  all  because  the  book 
is  becoming  better  known.  Even  many  who  once 
made  war  on  it  have  come  over  to  us.  Two  facts 
reveal  this : 

(i)  Ministers  of  non-liturgical  congregations 
are  on  all  sides,  in  their  public  prayers  and  ser- 
vices, making  large  drafts  on  this  book,  both  for 
inspiration  and   for  language  ;  nor  are  they  any 


THE  BOOK   OF    COMMON   PRAYER  239 

longer  afraid  to  yield  it  unstinted  praise.  And 
their  people  love  to  have  it  so.  Not  many  years 
ago,  to  the  great  delight  of  the  congregation  in  a 
certain  Scottish  Presbyterian  kirk,  Sunday  by 
Sunday,  was  said,  all  from  memory,  the  beauti- 
ful Litany  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 

(2)  Non-liturgical  communities  are  themselves 
now  openly  taking  to  the  use  of  some  sort  of 
prayer-books.  This  new  departure  is  to  some 
among  theni  a  grief  of  mind.  But  they  are  pow- 
erless ;  and  no  Jenny  Geddes  will  arise  in  her 
might  to  tread  the  war-path  against  the  bringers- 
in  of  these  hateful  book-prayers  !  True,  these 
prayers  are  not  always  word  for  word  with  ours. 
But,  all  the  same,  the  Church  can  say  with  Tenny- 
son— only  with  her  it  is  a  real  cause  of  rejoicing 
that  she  can  so  truly  say — 

"  Once  in  a  golden  hour 
I  cast  to  earth  a  seed, 
Up  there  came  a  flower — 
The  people  said  a  weed. 

*'  To  and  fro  they  went 
Thro'  my  garden-bower, 
And,  muttering  discontent. 
Cursed  me  and  my  flower. 


240  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

"  Then  it  grew  so  tall 

It  wore  a  crown  of  light ; 
But  thieves  from  o'er  the  wall 
Stole  the  seed  by  night : 

"  Sowed  it  far  and  wide, 

By  every  town  and  tower, 
Till  all  the  people  cried, 
'  Splendid  is  the  flower.' 

"  Read  my  little  fable  ; 
He  that  runs  may  read. 
Most  can  raise  the  flowers  now, 
For  all  have  got  the  seed." 

The  true  Christian  Church  has  never  been  with- 
out a  Prayer-Book,  or,  as  it  was  anciently  called,  a 
Liturgy.  She  had  one  (pardon  the  Hibernianism) 
before  it  was  written.  But  in  very  truth,  unwrit- 
ten for  300  years,  the  Church  yet  possessed  a 
Liturgy.  She  had,  that  is  to  say,  fixed  forms  of 
prayer,  which  were  as  faithfully  preserved  by 
memory  and  practice  as  if  they  had  been  written 
down  with  ink  and  with  pen.  In  this  respect  we 
fear  some  so-called  extemporaneous  prayers  are 
but  book-prayers,  after  all.  We  remember  a  typi- 
cal instance.  A  venerable  Scotch  clergyman  of 
the  older  school  on  meeting  one  of  his  parishion- 


THE   BOOK   OF   COMMON   PRAYER  241 

ers,  kindly  inquired  after  her  health.  "  I'm  unco 
wake  and  my  mind's  clean  gane,"  was  the  reply. 
"  I  am  sorry  to  hear  that,  woman,"  said  the  minis- 
ter ;  ''  the  want  of  memory  is  a  great  aflliction  ;  ye 
ken  I  can  well  sympathize  with  you  in  it,  for  I've 
suffered  greatly  in  that  way  mysel'  for  a  long  time." 
"  Eh,  sir,  hoo  can  ye  say  that,  when  I've  heard  ye 
gi'e  the  same  prayer  noo  for  ower  sax-an'-twenty 
year,  an'  ye  ha'ena  forgotten  a  word  o't — no'  ane." 
It  was  not  that  the  early  Christians  had  any 
scruples  against  written  prayers.  They  well  knew 
that  the  Jewish  Church  had  for  ages  used  such 
prayers  ;  that  Christ  himself  had  joined  in  them 
and  had  used  them  also  ;  and  that  when  His  Apos- 
tles asked  for  a  form,  he  immediately  gave  them 
one.  But  the  same  feeling  which  caused  them  to 
refrain  from  committing  their  creed  to  writing, 
was  ever  present.  They  feared  lest  those  prayers 
might  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  heathen ;  and  al- 
ways before  their  eyes  were  Christ's  warning 
words  :  "  Give  not  that  which  is  holy  unto  the 
dogs,  neither  cast  ye  your  pearls  before  swine, 
lest  they  trample  them  under  their  feet,  and  turn 
again  and  rend  you."  '  So,  not  until  persecution 
had  ceased  and  this  danger  had  passed  away,  could 

1  St.  Matt.  vii.  6. 
16 


242  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

written  forms  of  prayer  appear ;  then  they  came  as 
naturally  as  night  follows  day.  This  was,  how- 
ever, not  until  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century. 
Then  we  find  that  four  distinct  liturgies  were  in 
existence — all,  however,  so  closely  resembling  one 
another  as  manifestly  to  be  the  offspring  of  one 
common  stock.  These  were,  (i)  that  of  the  East- 
ern Church,  now  known  as  the  Oriental  Liturgy, 
which  prevailed  from  the  Hellespont,  and  from 
thence  to  the  southern  extremity  of  Greece,  across 
to  the  Euphrates ;  (2)  that  of  Alexandria,  used  in 
Egypt,  Abyssinia,  and  the  countries  westward 
along  the  Mediterranean  Sea ;  (3)  that  of  Rome, 
which  prevailed  in  Italy  and  along  the  North 
African  coast ;  (4)  and  finally  the  Gallican,  which, 
it  is  thought,  prevailed  throughout  Gaul,  Spain, 
and  Britain.  This  much  for  prayer-books  in  gen- 
eral. 

Here  however  we  may  leave  the  general  his- 
tory of  Prayer-Books  to  follow  the  fortunes  of 
our  own  in  Britain  and  in  America.  Prayer-Book 
history,  as  it  concerns  ourselves,  may  be  grouped 
into  three  separate  epochs  : 

1.  Extending  from  the  first  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  in  Britain  to  the  Reformation. 

2.  From    the    Reformation    to    the    beginning 


THE  BOOK   OF   COMMON   PRAYER  243 

of  our  own  independent  and  national  American 
life. 

3.  From  then  to  the  present  time. 

Of  the  four  ancient  liturgies  the  Galilean  was 
probably— if  we  may  borrow  a  term  familiar  to  us 
in  our  own  phraseology— the  standard  Prayer- 
Book  of  Britain.  But  it  was  not  destined  to  be 
without  a  rival.  When  the  Italian  missionary, 
Augustine,  arrived  in  A.D.  S97,  he  brought  with 
him  the  book  then  used  at  Rome  and  on  the  Afri- 
can coast 

"  Fronting  Italy  and  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber." 

This  book  Augustine  urged  the  British  Bishops 
to  accept  in  place  of  their  own.  It  was,  he  said, 
S.  Peter's.  But  they  had  no  mind  to  make  such 
exchange.  Their  own  Book  had  the  authority 
of  S.  John  and  S.  Paul,  and  in  the  judgment 
of  British  Christians  those  Apostles  were  not  a 
whit  behind  S.  Peter  himself.  And  to  the  Brit- 
ish much  more  than  S.  Peter  could  ever  be,  for 
the  seal  of  their  Apostleship  were  they  in  the 
Lord.  So  clinging  with  Naboth  like  fervor  to  the 
inheritance  of  their  fathers,  they  refused  the  prof- 
fered gift.  Mortified  beyond  measure,  Augustine 
returned  to  his  work  in  Kent  among  the  heathen 


244  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

Saxons.  Neither  he  nor  his  and  they  ever  met 
again ;  yet  as  time  wore  on,  and  the  people  of 
Kent,  who,  taught  by  Augustine,  had  become 
Christians  and  were  using  his  Liturg}^,  met  with 
the  people  of  the  old  book  of  the  land,  prejudice 
wore  away,  and  soon  the  two  forms  of  Liturgical 
Service  which  had  so  long  existed  side  by  side 
were  merged  together,  and  became  the  standard 
Prayer-Book  of  a  united  National  Church. 

We  must,  however,  guard  against  misappre- 
hension. Our  illustration  is  not  altogether  per- 
fect. This  standard  book  of  mediaeval  Chris- 
tianity was  far  from  being  the  equivalent  of  the 
modern  Prayer-Book.  It  was  merely  the  nucleus 
of  it,  containing  but  little  besides  the  Service  of 
the  Communion.  Around  it  other  books  of  lesser 
importance  revolved  like  satellites  around  the 
sun.  But  they  were  not  directly  of  it.  These 
were  the  Breviary,  containing  a  series  of  daily 
services ;  the  Manual,  containing  the  Baptismal 
and  other  occasional  Offices  which  might  be  per- 
formed by  a  priest ;  and  the  Pontifical,  with  ser- 
vices which  the  bishop  might  alone  administer. 
Yet  they  were  all  in  structure  and  general  tone 
the  same,  but  the  Missal  —  the  Communion  Ser- 
vice— was  always  the  model  of  them  all. 


THE   BOOK   OF   COMMON   PRAYER  245 

These  books,  however,  had  no  one  custodian. 
Every  bishop,  according  to  primitive  custom, 
regulated  the  services  of  the  Church  in  his  own 
diocese  without  let  or  hindrance  ;  he  added  to 
the  standard  or  took  away,  as  he  thought  well. 
A  uniformly  standard  Prayer-Book  under  such 
circumstances  was  manifestly  impossible.  Yet 
the  variations  were  not  so  great  as  one  might  sup- 
pose. All  acknowledged  that  a  Liturgy  derived 
from  an  Apostle  should  not  be  greatly  altered. 
Still  these  variations  were  such  as  finally  to  cre- 
ate well-established  uses  or  customs.  Thus  there 
was  the  Use  of  Bangor,  the  Use  of  Hereford,  of 
Lincoln,  of  York,  and  the  most  popular  and  most 
widely  known  of  all  the  Use  of  Sarum  or  Salis- 
bury. 

Yet  a  likeness  to  the  common  original  ran 
through  all  these  Uses  or  Prayer-books.  Those 
mediseval  bishops  were  true,  consciously  or  un- 
consciously, to  the  law  of  unity  of  type.  ''By 
unity  of  type,"  ^  says  Darwin,  ''  is  meant  the  fun- 
damental agreement  in  structure  which  we  see  in 
organic  beings  of  the  same  class,  and  which  is 
given  to  them  independent  of  their  habits  of  life." 

1  Darwin,  Origin  of  Species,  p.  i66. 


246  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF    FAITH 

They  who  from  time  to  time  made  changes  from 
the  common  standard  were — 

"  So  careful  of  the  type," 

that  it  has  been  said  that,  if  S.  John,  during  the 
celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion,  could  visit 
one  of  our  own  churches  in  this  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, he  would  feel  perfectly  at  home,  and  could 
readily  take  his  part  in  the  service.  Perhaps 
then,  the  legend  of  the  Seven  Sleepers  of  Ephe- 
sus  would  be  seen  to  be  nearer  the  truth  than  we 
had  thought,  and  to  be  no  legend  at  all,  but  sober 
reality,  for  after  eighteen  centuries  a  Bishop  of 
Ephesus — the  greatest  the  city  of  Diana  ever  had 
— hearing  once  again  the  old  prayers,  might  even 
think  himself  back  again  where  he  had  once  ruled 
as  bishop. 

Thus,  while  the  theme  was  harmonious,  these 
mediaeval  Uses  upon  Uses  began  to  produce 
great  confusion  :  and  so  a  cry  for  simpler  ser- 
vices and  simpler  books  was  raised  everywhere. 
This  cry  was  indeed  a  principal  cause  of  the 
Reformation.  Intelligible  simplicity  was  the 
great  need  of  the  hour,  and  the  Church  nobly  un- 
dertook to  meet  the  demand.  Cranmer  was  the 
principal  editor  of  the  revised  Book  of  Common 


THE   BOOK   OF   COMMON   PRAYER  24/ 

Prayer.  But  the  task  was  great.  Before  him  lay 
a  vast  mass  of  Missals,  Breviaries,  Manuals,  and 
Pontificals  from  almost  every  Diocese  in  Eng-- 
land,  and  from  Rome  and  the  Continent — their 
number  seemed  legion.  And  they  were  all  in 
Latin  which  had  long  been  "  a  tongue  not  under- 
standed  of  the  people."  ^ 

As  we  contemplate  this  chaotic  mass,  one  ques- 
tion forces  itself  upon  us.  How  would  the  good 
people  of  these  days,  v/hose  gorge  rises  at  the 
sight  of  some  small  deviation  from  established 
usage,  have  vexed  their  righteous  souls  had 
they  lived  then  ?  Yet,  almost  from  the  traditional 
preaching  of  S.  Paul  until  the  eve  of  the  Refor- 
mation, such  chaos  existed  in  Britain.  Surely  not 
carping  criticism,  but  deep  thankfulness,  should 
be  ours  to-day  that  this  chaos  is  ended. 

The  demand  then  was  for  a  standard  book 
which,  purged  from  mediaeval  accretions  and  er- 
ror, should  be  in  the  vulgar  tongue  and  be  in- 
telligibly simple.  It  was  not  authors,  but  editors, 
translators  and  compilers,  that  were  in  request. 
Not  a  new  prayer  was  called  for;  not  a  new  ser- 
vice required.  Had  either  been  proposed,  men 
would  have  said,  ''the  old  is  better."     All  they 

1  Articles  of  Religion,  Art.  XXIV.— Prayer-Book,  p.  562. 


248  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

asked  was  simplicity.  Their  old  prayers,  like  old 
friends,  suited  them  best.  With  this  formal  de- 
mand made  and  complied  with,  the  first  great 
epoch  of  our  Prayer-Book  draws  to  its  close. 

The  second  epoch  opens  in  1544.  Then,  by  the 
translation  into  the  vernacular  of  the  Litany,  a 
great  forward  movement  was  made.  It  was  an 
auspicious  beginning.  In  the  year  1547  the  Epis- 
tles and  Gospels  were  appointed  to  be  said.  The 
Holy  Communion  Service  in  English  followed 
the  next  year.  This  work  proceeded  until  all  the 
Services;  for  the  Communion,  for  Baptism,  Burial, 
and  other  special  Offices,  were  finally  prepared, 
and  the  whole  English  book  was  ready  for  publi- 
cation in  the  second  year  of  the  reign  of  the  young 
king,  Edward  VI.  On  January  12,  1549,  the  Act 
for  ''  Uniformity  of  Service  and  Administration 
of  the  Sacraments  throughout  the  Realm"  had 
been  passed  by  Parliament,  having  previously 
been  adopted  by  Convocation.  Thus  all  demands 
were  met.  An  English  Prayer  -  Book,  simple, 
scriptural,  and  complete,  was  now  the  property 
of  the  English  Church.  By  a  happy  omen,  "  on 
the  Feast  of  the  Pentecost  next  coming,"  which 
that  year  fell  on  June  9th,  the  book  was  first  used. 
Most  appropriately  indeed  v/as  all  this  done  on 


THE   BOOK   OF   COMMON   PRAYER  249 

that  festival  which  commemorates  the  outpour- 
ing of  God's  Holy  Spirit,  when  men  first  heard 
the  good  news  of  the  Gospel  in  their  own  tongue 
in  which  they  were  born. 

Known  as  Edward's  First  Book  because  four 
years  afterward  another  appeared,  it  has  never 
been  entirely  superseded.  The  second,  unconsti- 
tutionally put  forth,  was  scarcely  issued  before 
the  young  King  died.  Then  both  first  and  sec- 
ond were  promptly  consigned  by  Queen  Mary 
to  the  flames.  Later  on,  in  the  reign  of  Eliza- 
beth, the  second  book,  with  some  material  altera- 
tions and  additions  was  restored  and  became  the 
Prayer-Book  of  the  English  Church. 

No  true  Churchman,  we  believe,  has  ever  re- 
gretted the  disappearance  of  that  second  book  in 
its  original  form.  It  stood  for  bald  Puritanism  in 
faith  and  practice  and  was  the  result  of  panic  leg- 
islation. It  was  not  the  work  of  English  Church- 
men, but  of  German  and  Swiss  Calvinists.  But 
would  we  had  never  lost  the  First !  It  is  per- 
haps not  too  much  to  say  that,  having  regard  to 
all  for  which  a  prayer-book  stands,  no  prayer- 
book  equal  to  that  has  ever  before  or  since  seen 
the  light  of  day.  Even  to  this  day  English 
Churchmen    are    sent    to    that     book    as    their 


250  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

final  authority  ;  for  the  only  ritual  directions  the 
English  Church  now  has  are  contained  in  the 
famous  "  ornaments  rubric  :  "  And  here  it  is  to  be 
noted  that  such  ornaments  of  the  Chnrch,  and  of  the 
Ministers  thereof,  at  all  times  of  their  ministration, 
shall  be  retained,  and  be  in  use,  as  were  in  this 
Church  of  England,  by  the  authority  of  Parliament, 
in  the  Second  Year  of  the  Reign  of  King  Edward 
the  Sixth. 

That  Prayer-Book  is  ours  ;  hence  all  we  have 
said.  While  this  land  was  a  colony  of  Great 
Britain,  the  Church  of  the  Mother  Country 
crossed  the  Atlantic  to  minister  to  her  scattered 
children  in  this  New  World.  But  when  the  Col- 
ony became  the  Republic,  the  Colonial  Church 
at  once  became  the  Church  of  the  Nation.  No 
longer  now  the  Church  of  England  in  America, 
she  had  become  the  Church  of  America. 

It  was  then,  to  use  the  words  which  you  will 
find  in  the  Preface  to  our  Prayer  -  Book,  that 
"  the  attention  of  this  Church  was  in  the  first 
place  drawn  to  those  alterations  in  the  Liturgy 
which  became  necessary  in  the  prayers  for  our 
civil  rulers  in  consequence  of  the  Revolution." 
The  book  had,  of  course,  necessarily  to  be 
amended.     Of  the  result  of  this  work  we  will  let 


THE   BOOK   OF   COMMON   PRAYER  25 1 

the  revisers  speak  for  themselves  in  the  words  of 
that  Preface.  "  It  seems  unnecessary,"  said  they, 
''  to  enumerate  all  the  different  alterations  and 
amendments.  They  will  appear,  and  it  is  hoped 
the  reasons  of  them  also,  upon  a  comparison  of  this 
with  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  of  the  Church 
of  England.  In  which  it  will  also  appear  that 
this  Church  is  far  from  intending  to  depart  from 
the  Church  of  England  in  any  essential  point  of 
doctrine,  discipline,  or  worship,  or  further  than 
local  circumstances  require."  This  Preface  is  our 
own  "ornaments  rubric" — the  only  one  we  have 
— but  it  will  be  seen  that  it  is  practically  the  same 
as  the  English  Church  possesses.  We  may  be 
thankful  to  have  it.  Remove  it,  and  "  there  is  no 
law."  It  is,  for  example,  the  universal  custom 
for  our  Clergy  to  be  vested  with  surplice  and 
stole.  But  why  not  a  black  coat  and  white  tie, 
or  something  less  conventional  still  ?  What  is 
there,  unless  good  taste  shall  sa}^  nay,  to  prevent 
some  other  costum^e  being  adopted  in  the  chancel 
and  the  pulpit?  There  is  not  a  word  about  a 
surplice  in  the  Book.  Custom,  you  say?  Unfor- 
tunately, custom  is  untrustworthy.  A  few  years 
ago  one  saw  only  long  black  stoles,  and  surplices 
even  longer.    But  the  stoles  of  to-day  are  red  and 


252  IN  THE  HOUSEHOLD   OF  FAITH 

purple  and  white  and  green,  and  the  surplices  are 
not  as  heretofore.  No ;  custom  will  not  suffice, 
for  it  is  as  fickle  as  fashion. 

The  ornaments  rubric  is  our  only  court  of  ap- 
peal. Upon  that  we  take  our  stand.  It  carries 
us  back  to  Edward's  days,  and  authorizes  for  use 
now  what  was  in  use  then,  and  forbids  now  what 
was  forbidden  then  ;  and  it  does  more — it  shows 
most  clearly  that  there  has  in  all  these  years  been 
no  break  in  continuity ;  the  Church  that  has 
crossed  an  ocean,  is  still  one  with  the  Church  on 
the  other  side. 

Of  late  a  deeper  interest  has  been  awakened  in 
this  old  Prayer-Book  of  ours.  Wide-spread  Prayer- 
Book  distribution  has  become  a  feature  in  the 
Church's  life  and  work  to-day.  The  adaptiveness 
of  this  book  as  a  manual  for  the  missionary  in  his 
work,  for  the  Christian  in  his  life,  for  the  people 
in  their  worship,  for  the  ministry  in  its  office,  for 
the  nation,  and  for  the  Catholic  Church,  is  rapidly 
becoming  manifest  to  all ;  as  more  than  all  else 
the  pure  form  of  sound  words,  that  good  thing 
committed  unto  us  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  Scottish  people,  it  is  said,  value  beyond  all 
others  three  books:  The  Bible,  Pilgrim's  Prog- 
ress, and  Fox's  Book  of  Martyrs.     Let  it  be  said 


THE  BOOK   OF   COMMON   PRAYER  253  1 

of  the  American  people  that  they  also  have  books  ] 

they  value  beyond  all  others  that  have  ever  been  j 

written  :  The   Bible  and  the  Prayer-Book.     The  | 

Bible  first,  the  Prayer-Book  next.  j 


XIV. 
THE   PRAYER-BOOK   IN   THE    CHURCH 


XIV. 
THE    PRAYER-BOOK    IN    THE  CHURCH 

"  More  things  are  wrought  by  prayer 
Than  this  world  dreams  of." 

— Tennyson. 

An  old  Church  has,  as  we  have  seen,  an  old 
Prayer-Book — and  everyone  of  the  Church's  sons 
rejoices  to  think  of  it  as  old  ;  as  the  Prayer-Book  of 
Andrewes  and  Butler,  of  Ken  and  Laud,  of  Wyclif 
and  Anselm,  of  Langton  and  Theodore  and  Aidan, 
of  Alfred  and  Bede  and  Augustine,  those  saintly 
heroes  of  the  past  whom  we  know  by  name,  and 
whose  memories  we  treasure ;  as  also  of  that 
greater  multitude  whose  names  we  know  not, 
but  who,  well  known  to  God,  ''  have  washed  their 
robes  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb."^ 

Almost  identically  as  it  is  now,  the  Church  has 
had  this  book  for  over  three  hundred  years,  and 

1  Rev.  vii.  14. 
17 


258  IN   THE    HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

in  one  form  or  another  she  has  possessed  and  used 
its  material  for  some  fifteen  hundred  years  more. 
It  is  the  heritage  of  the  ages.  After  her  pure  sac- 
raments and  her  open  Bible,  her  ancient  faith  and 
catholic  order,  she  values  her  book  of  Common 
Prayer  more  than  all  else  besides.  Many  and 
beautiful  buildings  belong  to  her.  Noble  churches 
and  stately  cathedrals,  some  so  exquisitely  beau- 
tiful that  it  seems  almost  as  if  the  solid  rock  had 
blossomed  into  flower.  But  without  a  sigh  she 
Avould  part  with  them  all  if  she  had  to  choose 
between  them  and  her  Prayer-Book.  To  her  that 
book  is  as  daily  bread.  Not  at  long  intervals 
but  every  day  does  she  use  it.  Its  history  has 
been  largely  her  history  ;  its  fortunes  her  fort- 
unes. It  has  indeed  so  entered  into  her  life  that 
in  these  latter  days  she  and  the  book  have  seemed 
to  be  indispensable  to  each  other,  and  she  has  in 
consequence  become  known,  from  one  end  of  a 
wide  sphere  of  influence  to  the  other,  as  the 
Church  of  the  Prayer-Book. 

But  why  is  this  book  so  much  to  her?  What 
is  its  place  in  her  system  ?  The  Church  herself 
stands  for  the  sum  total  of  revealed  truth,  for  all 
organized  Christianity,  for  unity  in  faith  and 
work,  for   spiritual    guidance,  for   a    voice    from 


THE  PRAYER-BOOK   IN   THE   CHURCH  259 

God,  for  the  means  of  salvation.     For  what  does 
the  Prayer-Book  stand  ?     We  answer : 

I.  For  True  Catholicism, — which  is  the  mid- 
dle ground  between  Denominationalism  and  Pa- 
palism.  The  true  Churchman  alone  is  the  true 
Catholic.  Not  indeed  that  he  is  not  a  Protestant 
also, — even  as  Avere  our  ancestors  who  delighted 
to  style  themselves  "  Protestant  Catholicks."  But 
he  is  a  Catholic  first  of  all,  and  more  than  all.  The 
Church's  Creed  binds  him  to  Catholicism.  He 
there  professes  faith,  not  in  a  Holy  Protestant, 
still  less  in  a  "  Holy  Roman,"  but  in  ''  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church." 

Nor  is  this  a  question  of  words  and  names.  The 
essence  of  Protestantism  is  the  right  of  every  \ 
man  to  resist  unscriptural  innovations.  The  per- 
version of  this  is  the  assumed  right  to  believe 
what  he  will.  When  Cardinal  Vaughan  said  that 
he  was  not  prepared  to  see  Protestants  e/i  masse 
accepting  papal  infallibility,  inasmuch  as  every 
Protestant  was  his  own  Pope,  he  was  in  a  meas- 
ure right.  To  the  denominational  Protestant 
there  can  be  no  other  Pope  because  he  claims 
that  there  is  no  authority  outside  of  himself  which 
can  direct  him  in  matters  of  religion.  Pie  knows 
not  the  Church  as  such  an  authority.     It  is,  ac- 


260  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

cording  to  him,  a  mere  delusion  to  imagine  that 
she  is  such.  There  is  indeed,  in  his  judgment,  and 
he  speaks  as  one  having  authority,  no  organized 
visible  Church  at  all.  Now,  Protestantism  of  it- 
self is  no  more  an  adequate  description  of  the 
Christian  life  than  an  account  of  our  late  Civil 
War  would  be  a  faithful  representation  of  Ameri- 
can life,  or  of  the  forces  which  have  made  Amer- 
ica great. 

The  essence  of  Papalism,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  the  absolute  denial  of  every  individual  right 
whatsoever.  Papalism  perverts  the  supremacy 
of  the  Church  into  the  supremacy  of  one  man; 
for  Cardinal  Cajetan  has  told  us  that  the  Church 
is  the  bond  slave  of  the  Papacy.  Should  even  a 
man's  conscience  condemn  him,  he  must  yet  obey 
the  Church.  The  Church  is  in  fact  to  a  man,  as 
Joseph  was  to  the  Egyptians,  in  place  of  God; 
and  can  anyone  doubt  but  that  he  ought  to  obey 
God  rather  than  man  ! 

But  the  Church  is  both  truly  Catholic  and  truly 
Protestant ;  for  the  two  ideas  are  inseparable. 
Holding  this  truth  she  declares  that  the  denomi- 
nationalists  are  so  far  right  in  believing  in  the  su- 
premacy of  conscience.  She,  too,  teaches  that 
the  last  authority  in  matters  of  faith  is  within, 


THE  PRAYER-BOOK  IN  THE  CHURCH    26 1 

not  without,  a  man.  Not  in  the  Bible,  nor  yet 
in  the  Church,  but  in  himself  does  a  man  find 
that  voice  from  which  there  is  no  appeal.  A  man 
must  to  his  own  self  be  true.  It  is  only  so  that 
he  can  hear  God's  voice  at  all. 

But  again  coming  forward  she  confesses  that 
the  Roman  Catholic  is  also  right  in  exalting  the 
Church,  believing  in  her  and  revering  her,  hold- 
ing that  she  has  a  divine  m.ission  here.  She 
moreover  solemnly  affirms  that  short  of  that 
point  where  conscience  whispers  "  obedience  is 
sin,"  she  has  paramount  authority.  To  seek  her 
help  and  guidance,  to  yield  loving  obedience,  to 
follow  with  a  glad  mind  her  godly  admonitions 
in  all  things  short  of  this  great  alternative,  is 
the  churchman's  duty.  In  place  of  this  obedience 
she  can  accept  nothing ;  not  alms,  not  zeal,  not 
great  sacrifices.  Her  word  is :  ''  Behold,  to  obey 
is  better  than  sacrifice,  and  to  hearken  than  the 
fat  of  rams."  * 

For  this,  then,  the  Prayer-Book  stands ;  for 
the  right  of  a  Church  to  speak  and  teach  with  all 
authority, — consistent  at  once  with  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  conscience  and  with  the  voice  of  the 
Church  as  recorded  in  Holy  Scripture,  or  to  be 

1  I  Sam.  XV.  22. 


262  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

proved  thereby ;  confidently  believing  that  it  will 
never  be  found  that  these  can  differ.  "  What  God 
hath  joined  together,  let  not  man  put  asunder." 

2.  Next,  the  Prayer-Book  Stands  for  the 
Official  Utterance  of  the  Church  on  ritual  and 
doctrine.  It  is  her  standard  of  faith  and  wor- 
ship. In  it  we  "  hear  the  Church."  It  is  true 
Catholicism  applied  in  practice.  Concerning  the 
teaching  of  the  Church,  it  is  often  said  that  it  is 
all  so  contradictory  that  men  know  not  what 
to  believe.  One  voice  goes  forth  among  us  here 
in  America  or  from  Canterbury,  another  from 
Rome,  and  yet  a  third  from  Moscow ;  and  that 
in  consequence  the  ordinary  layman  is  left  in  a 
quandary.  Which  of  these  voices  shall  he  hear  ? 
All,  we  answer,  are  without  signification,  save 
that  of  his  own  Church.  Is  he  an  American 
who  asks  this  ?  We  reply  :  In  our  Prayer-Book. 
But  that,  too,  we  shall  be  told,  lacks  uniformity, 
and  is  indefinite  and  contradictory. 

In  his  ''Faith  of  Our  Fathers"  Cardinal  Gibbons 
makes  an  attack  upon  our  Church,  based  on  this 
view.^  To  him  this  Church  is  a  medley  of  contra- 
dictory teachings.  He  imagines,  as  a  case  in  point, 
a  bishop  ordaining  a  young  man  to  the  priesthood 

1  Cf.  Faith  of  Our  Fathers,  Eleventh  Edition,  1879,  p  408. 


THE   PRAYER-BOOK   IN   THE   CHURCH  263 

with  the  solemn  words :  "  Whosesoever  sins  ye  for- 
give, they  are  forgiven,  and  whose  sins  ye  retain, 
they  are  retained ; "  and  then  immediately  after 
the  service  giving  the  young  priest  to  understand 
that  he  must  not  take  these  words  seriously,  as 
they  are  but  a  mere  figure  of  speech,  and  mean 
nothing  ! 

Now,  we  might  fairly  say  that  no  merely  hypo- 
thetical case  can  rightly  claim  our  attention.  The 
world  is  too  full  of  great  questions  and  real  prob- 
lems, and  life  is  too  short,  to  justify  our  fighting 
shadows.  Still,  we  will  assume  that  such  a  case 
has  actually  occurred.  What  then  can  we  say? 
Why,  surely  this:  that  no  Church  can  be  judged 
by  the  eccentricities  of  any  disloyal  member. 
Would  the  Cardinal  desire  that  his  own  Church 
should  thus  be  so  judged  ?  We  trow  not.  Yet, 
after  putting  himself  on  record  in  this  way  he 
ought  to  be  prepared  for  it.  "  For  with  the  same 
measure  that  ye  mete  withal  it  shall  be  measured 
to  you  again."  ^ 

The  charge  is  one  of  inconsistency.  Well,  some 
of  us  may  have  been  inconsistent,  but  at  least  we 
have  not  gone  the  length  of  giving  Bibles  to  can- 
didates for  confirmation  in  Maryland,  and  refus- 

J  Luke  vi.  38. 


264  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

ing  earnest  petitions  to  be  allowed  to  read  them  in 
Ireland  and  elsewhere ;  ^  we  have  not,  in  one  ward 
of  an  American  city,  forbidden  our  clergy  under 
pains  and  penalties  to  marry,  and  in  another  have 
allowed  them;  we  have  not  in  some  places  for- 
bidden people  to  have  service  in  a  tongue  which 
they  understand,  teaching  that  Latin  alone  was 
the  sacred  language  of  prayer,  and  permitting  it 
to  them  elsewhere ;  v/e  have  not  sanctioned  ^  mar- 
riages between  uncles  and  nieces  in  return  for 
a  weight}^  payment,  and  afterward  boasted  of  the 
sacred  strictness  of  our  marriage  laws.  We  have 
not  two  oaths  for  our  Bishops — one  for  the  use 
of  such  as  are  consecrated  abroad,  and  one  for  the 
use  of  those  consecrated  within  the  United  States 
— one  binding  the  Bishop  who  takes  it  to  perse- 
cute and  attack  heretics  and  schismatics,  the 
other  without  it,^  because,  forsooth,  her  use  of  it 
here  would  bring  the  Church  into  discredit  witli 

1  See  p.  227  of  this  book. 

2  Vide  Foster's  Peerage,  1881,  p.  9,  foot-note,  title  Acton,  " having 

married  in  1796  (by  dispensation  of  the  Pope)  Mary  Anne,  elder  daugh- 
ter of  his  [younger]  brother.  General  Joseph  Edward  Acton  (she  was 
born  in  1782)."  In  this  case  dispensation  was  given  to  a  man  of  sixty  to 
marry  his  niece  aged  only  fourteen  ! 

See  also  the  more  recent  case  of  the  Duke  of  Aosta. 

3  In  the  discussion  between  the  Rev.  Thomas  Vickers  and  the  Roman 
Archbishop  Purcell,  in  Cincinnati,  in  1867,  Mr.  Vickers  wrung  from  the 
archbishop  the  reluctant  admission  that  for  American  Roman  bishops 


THE   PRAYER-BOOK    IN   THE   CHURCH  265 

every  right-minded  person  in  the  land,  and  in 
Maryland,  at  all  events,  dispose  more  effectually 
of  her  grotesque  claim  to  be  the  author  of  the 
Act  of  Toleration.  And  we  have  our  reward. 
None  have  ever  charged  us  with  trickiness,  with 
hunting  with  the  hare  and  running  with  the 
hounds.  We  have  never  even  been  charged  with 
that  fault  which  the  whole  world  knows  as  Jesu- 
itry. Eccentric  and  disloyal  members  we  may 
have,  who,  either  in  the  direction  of  Roman 
superstition  or  Puritan  innovation,  have  erred 
and  are  teachinor  j-nen  so.  But  what  of  that? 
We  call  no  man  lord.  What  says  the  Book?  By 
that  we  are  willing  to  be  judged,  and  by  that 
only  will  we  be  condemned. 

Inconsistency  may  be  the  result  of  having  no 
settled  standard  of  faith  and  practice,  or  n-iay  be 
an  offence  against  discipline  and  organization.  In 
our  case  it  cannot  be  due  to  the  first,  for  Vv^e  have 
a  clear  and  authoritative  utterance  on  doctrine 
and  worship.  In  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  it 
is  enshrined  ;  and  that  book  is  no  more  responsible 
for  disloyalty  than  the  barque  on  the  ocean  is  re- 


the  "  Episcopal  oath"  does  not  contain  the  obnoxious  clause,  "I  will 
persecute  and  attack  heretics,  schismatics,"  etc.  (hsereticos  schismaticos 
.     .     ,     pro  posse  persequar  et  impugnabo). 


266  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

sponsible  for  the  storms  which  sweep  around  it, 
or  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  their  duty  by  its 
crew. 

The  book  is  one  and  the  same  for  all  her  chil- 
dren, wherever  found.  And  to  the  loyal  son  its 
prayers  and  services,  its  teachings  and  rules  are 
so  clear  that  he  cannot  mistake  them.  We  once 
heard  of  a  clergyman  who  had  the  reputation  of 
being  invisible  during  the  week  and  incompre- 
hensible on  Sunday.  But  it  could  only  have  been 
in  the  pulpit  that  he  was  incomprehensible,  for 
it  was  the  remark  of  one  who  knew  him  :  ''  Yes, 

Doctor   X is    hazy ;    but    oh,    those    praj^ers 

out  of  that  book  of  his  —  there  is  nothing  hazy 
about  them." 

3.  It  is  THE  Christian's  Manual  of  Devo- 
tion.    Observe  its  sj'stem : 

"  Distinct  with  signs,  thro'  which,  in  set  career, 
As  thro'  a  zodiac,  moves  the  ritual  year." 

All  the  doctrines  of  the  faith,  and  all  the  great  his- 
torical facts  on  which  that  faith  so  largely  rests, 
are  here  in  order  brousrht  before  us.  Around 
the  person  of  our  Lord  all  revolves,  and  in  his 
mighty  resurrection  from  the  dead  all  culmi- 
nates. 


THE   PRAYER-BOOK   IN   THE   CHURCH  267 

Beginning  with  Advent,  this  ritual  3^ear  leads 
us  at  once  to  Christmas,  when  we  think  of  Christ's 
fulfilment  of  ancient  prophecy,  and  there  we  see, 
in  very  truth,  Immanuel — God  with  us  :  then,  one 
after  another,  come  the  great  events  in  our  Sav- 
iour's life,  his  miracles  and  parables,  his  holy, 
spotless  example,  his  suffering,  death,  and  Resur- 
rection, and  so  we  tread  the  pathway  of  growing 
knowledge  and  deepening  faith,  till  we  learn  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  the  ever  blessed  Trinity. 

Then,  too,  we  see  how  that  gently  as  a  mother 
cares  for  her  little  ones,  so  does  the  Church  in 
this  Prayer-Book  deal  with  us.  Milk  for  babes ; 
strong  meat  for  men  ;  this  is  her  method.  Tak- 
ing us  as  infants  a  few  days  old,  she  baptizes  us; 
then,  as  our  minds  develop,  she  trains  us  in  the 
simplest  matters  of  our  holy  religion,  in  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  the  Creed,  and  the  Ten  Commandments ; 
then  strengthens  us  by  Confirmation  ;  then  feeds 
us  in  the  Holy  Communion  with  angel's  food, 
and  at  last,  when  she  has  thus  watched  over  us 
through  life,  she  buries  us,  with  all  our  faults  for- 
gotten, covering  us  with  the  robe  of  that  bound- 
less "  charity  which  hopeth  all  things,  endureth 
all  things,  believeth  all  things."  ^ 

'  I  Cor.  xiii.  7. 


268  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

And  all  this  in  the  very  words  with  which  fifty 
generations  of  Christians  have  nourished  their 
souls  and  drawn  nearer  to  God. 

The  Prayer-Book  v/hich  is  thus  the  Church's 
standard,  is  necessarily  her  missionary  also — silent, 
but  powerful  like  the  Word  of  God  itself,  and 
sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword.  '^  It  is,"  said 
Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  the  learned  and  distinguished 
Methodist  commentator,  "  the  greatest  effort  of 
the  Reformation^ next  to  the  translation  of  the 
Bible.  As  a  form  of  devotion  it  has  no  equal  in 
any  part  of  the  Universal  Church.  Next  to  the 
Bible,  it  is  the  book  of  my  understanding  and  of 
my  heart."  Would  that  it  were  such  to  all  the 
scattered  children  of  the  Church! 


XV. 

THE   HYMNAL 

OR   BOOK   OF   COMxMON   PRAISE 


XV. 
THE   HYMNAL 

OR   BOOK   OF   COMMON   PRAISE 

"  Si  quaeris  Deo  placere,  quanto  cantabis  simplicius,  tanto 
magis  ei  placebis."— S.  Bonaventura. 

The  Church,  in  all  her  public  services,  restricts 
her  clergy  and  congregations  to  the  forms  laid 
down  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  Her 
practice  in  this  matter  is  rigid.  Even  when 
Morning  and  Evening  Prayer  have  been  duly 
rendered,  if  a  third  Service  is  held  it  must  be  in 
the  words  of  that  Book.  That  is  the  mine  from 
which  the  material  must  be  quarried ;  the  chan- 
nel through  which  must  flow  the  streams  of 
prayer  and  praise  welling  up  from  grateful  hearts. 

Now  in  this  the  Church  maintains  a  principle. 
It  is  that  she  is  responsible,  not  only  for  the  gen>j 
eral  conduct,  but  for  all  the  details  of  Divine  Ser-f 
vice.     Individual  action,  with  its  occasional  idio- 
syncracies,  its   little   oddities  and  eccentricities, 


2/2  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

which  in  some  spheres  she  loves  to  tolerate  and 
even  to  encourage,  here  obtains  no  place  or  sanc- 
tion. Yet  this  is  not  tj-ranny.  The  very  thought 
that  it  is  will  die  away  ere  it  finds  expression  in 
word,  if  we  remember  what  the  Church  is.  Is 
it  not  ourselves  ?  ''  Now  ye  are  the  body  of 
Christ,  and  members  in  particular :  "  ^ — "  the  Tem- 
ple of  the  Lord  are  we."  Churchmen,  if  they 
wished  another  law,  might  have  another,  but  they 
do  not  wish  it.  The  reign  of  law  is  for  them  per- 
fect liberty. 

But  a  Church  which  asserts  this  principle  must 
be  consistent.  A  Book  of  Common  Prayer  im- 
plies a  Book  of  Common  Praise.  Clergy  and 
people  under  law  in  the  use  of  prose,  may  well 
beg  not  to  be  left  a  law  unto  themselves  in  the 
use  of  sacred  song.  Where,  then,  would  be 
safet}^  ?  Error  carefully  excluded  in  one  way 
might  find  entry  in  another.  Without  an  author- 
ized Hymnal  the  Church  would  be  conducting 
her  affairs  as  one  who  should  look  carefully  to  the 
fastenings  of  his  doors  at  night  yet  leave  the  win- 
dows wide  open.  A  hymn  has  often  greater  teach- 
ing power  than  a  prayer.  In  the  hands  of  Arius 
and  other  false  teachers  it  was  once  a  powerful 

» I  Cor.  xii.  27, 


THE   HYMNAL  273 

medium  for  the  spread  of  false  doctrine,  and  can 
easily  become  so  again ;  or  it  can  be,  on  the  other 
hand,  a  great  means  for  the  spread  of  the  truth. 
Better,  indeed,  from  this  point  of  view,  that  the 
Church  should  leave  to  an  irresponsible  individ- 
ualism the  framing  of  services  and  the  making  of 
prayers  than  the  choice  and  use  of  hymns. 
Tempted  to  do  otherwise,  she  might  learn  a  les- 
son from  him  who  said :  "  Let  me  write  the 
songs  of  a  people,  and  I  care  not  who  makes  their 
laws."  So  let  the  Church  say  what  hymns  shall 
be  sung,  and  she  will  find  she  need  not  be  careful 
about  aught  else. 

Rightly,  then,  does  our  Church  possess  a 
Hymnal.  In  this  respect  our  American  Church 
stands  far  ahead  of  the  Church  of  England,  which 
has  no  official  hymn-book.  Not  that  the  people 
of  that  Church  do  not  think  they  need  one ;  they 
acknowledge  that  they  do.  The  longing  desire 
of  one  of  her  loyal  sons,  not  long  since,  found  vent 
in  these  words:  "Would  to  God  that  the  Church 
would  give,  without  delay,  all  that  is  needed  in 
the  way  of  more  offices  and  all  that  is  needed  in 
the  way  of  a  Book  of  Common  Praise!  Some 
serious  troubles  await  the  Church.  With  an  en- 
richment of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  with 
18 


2/4  IN   THE   HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

common-sense  adaptations  to  modern  needs,  and 
a  really  comprehensive  Book  of  Common  Praise, 
she  might  deal  with  them  all,  and  come  forth  bet- 
ter, holier,  and  brighter  than  ever."  The  very 
thought  of  such  a  possession  would  be  to  them 
delightful.  But  their  time  has  not  yet  come.  Not 
until  when,  without  effort  and  without  party 
feeling,  there  can  be  a  hymn-book,  which  in  all  its 
teachings  shall  be  in  harmony  with  their  Prayer- 
Book,  can  that  be. 

Meanwhile,  practically,  there  is  a  standard 
book  in  England — a  book  which  has  quietly  and 
without  official  patronage  been  steadily  pressing 
forward  into  public  favor,  until  it  can  now  almost 
claim  to  be  the  chosen  Hymnal  of  the  Anglican 
Communion.  This  is  the  compilation  usually 
known  as  "  Hymns,  Ancient  and  Modern."  The 
extent  to  which  this  Hymnal  is  used  appears  from 
a  report  just  issued  by  a  Joint  Committee  of  the 
two  houses  of  .the  Convocation  of  Canterbury, 
wherein  it  is  shown  that 

Hymns,  Ancient  and  Modern,  are  used  in  10,340  churches. 

Hymnal  Companion  in 1,478  " 

Church  Hymns  in 1,462 

Various 379  " 

13.659 


THE   HYMNAL  2/5 

In  the  American  Church  we  have  passed  through 
the  embryo  stage.  Along  vv^ith  her  standard  Bible 
and  Prayer-Book,  our  Church  has  her  Book  of 
Common  Praise.  We  may  be  thankful  for  this. 
The  book  selected  may  not  be  the  best.  But  a 
liturgical  Church  is  committed  to  an  official 
Hymn-Book.  Concerning  the  value  of  the  book 
itself,  opinions  may  differ.  In  a  collection  of  six 
hundred  and  seventy-nine  hymns,  we  may  expect 
to  find  hymns  of  varying  merit.  And  we  un- 
doubtedly shall.  Besides  the  grandest  and  most 
sublime  compositions  we  have  some  with  no  more 
poetry  in  them  than  has  a  proposition  of  Euclid. 
Some  are  not  even  true  to  the  ideal  of  what  a 
hymn  should  be.  Yet  w^e  may  rejoice  that  we 
have  a  book  of  h3^mns  which  has  received  the 
sanction  of  our  Church.  And  in  any  case  let  us 
remember  how  great  an  improvement  it  registers. 

In  1640  the  first  Hymn-Book  printed  in  America 
appeared.  It  was  "  The  Psalms  in  Metre,  Faith- 
fully Translated  for  the  Use,  Edification,  and  Com- 
fort of  the  Saints,  in  Public  and  Private,  especial- 
ly in  New  England."  ''  If,"  say  the  translators, 
''our  verses  are  not  always  so  smooth  and  elegant 
as  some  may  desire  and  expect,  let  them  con- 
sider that  God's  altar  needs  not  our  polishings." 


276  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

The  two  following'  verses  may  serve  to  show 
how  little  polishing-  had  been  done : 

"  The  Lord's  song  sing  can  wee,  being 
In  stranger's  land  ?  then  let 
Lose  her  skill  my  right  hand  if  I 
Jerusalem  forget. 

"  Let  cleave  my  tongue  my  pallate  on 
If  mind  thee  doe  not  I, 
If  chiefe  joyes  o'er  I  prize  not  more 
Jerusalem  my  joy." 

Among  the  translators  and  versifiers  of  this 
elegant  New  England  Psalter,  was  John  Elliott, 
the  Apostle  of  the  Indians.  Yet,  notwithstanding 
the  spell  of  Elliott's  name,  we  may  be  thankful  we 
have  nothing  like  this  now  ! 

What  is  the  object  of  the  hymn  writer,  and 
why  do  we  sing  hymns? 

I.  To  teach  men  about  God. 

This  Church  is  a  teaching  Church.  This  teach- 
ing is  primarily  conve3^ed  by  means  of  collects 
and  portions  of  Scripture.  A  Hymn-Book  of  the 
Church  ought  to  conform  itself  to  the  mind  of  the 
Church  and  follow  her  example  in  this  respect. 
But  the  Churchmanship  of  to-day  is  of  a  different 
t3^pe  from  that  which  prevailed  even  half  a  cen- 


THE   HYMNAL  277 

tiiry  ago.  It  is  a  social  Churchmanship,  a  realiza- 
tion of  the  Kingdom  of  God  as  a  present  posses- 
sion. Within  the  last  twenty-five  years  the 
Church  has  learned  many  lessons.  She  has  heard 
new  calls ;  she  has  realized  new  responsibilities. 
It  is  not  merely  that  she  is  to  preach  to  men 
about  their  souls,  but  she  realizes  that  she  has  to 
preach  to  them  about  their  bodies  also.  She 
seeks  their  present  salvation  as  well  as  their  fut- 
ure. Her  work  is  for  men,  not  for  disembodied 
spirits.  Like  Wisdom,  she  says,  ''  Unto  you,  O 
men,  I  call ;  and  my  voice  is  to  the  sons  of  man." 

2.  To  glorify  God. 

Worship  must  be  so  offered  that  the  worshipper 
can  take  his  part  intelligently.  S.  Paul  says :  "  I 
will  sing  with  the  spirit,  and  I  will  sing  with  the 
understanding  also."  ^  And  S.  Augustine,  in  S. 
Paul's  spirit,  pertinently  asks  : 

"  Would'st  thou  the  Almighty  Father  please  ?  " 

and  thus  answers  himself : 

"  Thou  must  approach  the  throne;  not  seek 
To  gratify  self-pleasing  sense 
Of  Music's  powers,  but  dread  to  win 
Vain  praise  for  perfected  success  ; 

'  1  Cor.  xiv, ,  15. 


278  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

Not  strive  to  weave  a  complex  thread 
Of  harmonies — for  simple  souls 
Too  high — with  words  wherein  to  pour 
An  offering  meet  to  Him  you  would  adore." 

Here  are  two  features  of  the  ideal  hymn  :  It 
ought  to  teach  men  :  It  ought  not  to  be  a  mere 
medium  for  the  expression  of  the  personal  feel- 
ing of  the  individual.  If  true  to  this  standard, 
it  will  give  utterance  to  the  united  mind  of  the 
faithful,  as  with  one  heart  and  voice  they  praise 
and  magnify  God. 

The  Book  of  Praise,  in  which  our  hymns  are 
collected,  differs  from  the  Book  of  Prayer  in  two 
noteworthy  particulars : — 

(i)  The  Book  of  Praise  is  new.  The  Book  of 
Prayer  is  old.  Some  hymns,  indeed,  are  not 
new.  At  the  first  Eucharistic  Service  a  hymn 
was  sung  by  our  Lord  and  His  Apostles.  It  mat- 
ters not  whether  it  was  one  of  the  series  of  Psalms 
called  the  Hallel,^  or  not.  The  modern  distinc- 
tion between  hymns  and  psalms  is  entirely  arbi- 
trary. Bede  speaks  of  the  wdiole  Book  of  Psalms 
as  called  by  the  universal  consent  of  Hebrews, 
Greeks,  and  Latins,  ''  Liber  Hymnorum."  In 
early  times  indeed,  any  act  of  praise  to  God  was 

1  Cxiii.-cxviii. 


THE    riYMNAL  279 

called  a  hymn,  provided  only  that  it  was  sung. 
Afterward  the  term  was  confined  to  the  restric- 
tive use  it  now  has. 

But  even  in  this  restrictive  sense,  hymns  are 
as  old  as  Christianity  itself.  The  New  Testa- 
ment gives  us  several.  The  first  recorded  is  the 
Magnificat  of  the  B.  V.  M.  at  the  house  of  her 
cousin  Elizabeth.  Then  follow  the  Benedictus  and 
the  Nunc  Dimittis.  In  the  first  Liturgies  two 
hymns  are  found  enshrined,  for  what  is  the  Te 
Deum  Laudamus  but  a  magnificent  hymn  of  tri- 
umphant praise,  the  noblest  Latin  hymn  we  pos- 
sess ?  Yet,  grand  as  this  hymn  is,  it  is  not  more 
to  the  Western  Church  than  the  Gloria  in  Excel- 
sis,  which  so  beautifies  our  Communion  Service, 
is  to  the  Eastern, — the  more  so  as  its  composition 
dates  back  to  the  first  century. 

After  the  New  Testament  and  the  Liturgic 
Hymns  of  the  first  ages,  there  are  hymns  of  the 
Mediaeval  era.  Of  these,  six  shine  with  superla- 
tive brightness.  They  are  the  Dies  Irse,  the  Sta- 
bat  Mater,  the  Mater  Speciosa,  the  Veni  Sancte 
Spiritus,  the  Veni  Creator  Spiritus,  the  Vexilla 
Regis,  and  the  Celestial  Country.  Of  these,  the 
Dies  Iras  is  the  most  sublime,  the  Mater  Speciosa 
the  most  tender,  the  Stabat  Mater  the  most  pa- 


28o  IN   THE    HOUSEHOLD    OF   FAITH 

thetic,  and  the  Celestial  Country  the  most  beauti- 
ful,— while  the  two  Hymns  to  the  Holy  Spirit 
sound  the  lowest  depths  of  the  soul's  inner  life, 
and  give  utterance  to  that  adoring  awe  and  rev- 
erence with  which  man  should  approach  the  Most 
High. 

But  the  ancient  materials  are  not  many  ;  for  the 
bulk  of  our  Hymnal  is  modern  ;  the  making  and 
using  of  hymns  on  a  large  scale  beginning  with 
Dr.  Isaac  Watts,  in  1705.  In  the  course  of  that 
century  thousands  of  hymns  appeared,  but  Watts 
was  the  pioneer.  There  are  now  said  to  be  20,000 
hymns  in  the  English  language,  all  in  use  some- 
where. Even  as  late  as  sixty  years  ago,  hymns 
were  unpopular,  and  regarded  as  Methodistical ; 
the  Non-conformists  using  them  more  than  did 
Church  people.  In  many  of  our  churches  the 
services  were  often  merely  read  ;  in  others  there 
was  an  excess  of  operatic  music,  often  badly  per- 
formed. But  the  number  of  the  hymn  writers 
now  in  the  Church,  and  the  beauty  of  their  com- 
positions, make  honorable  amends  for  the  past. 

(2)  But  there  is  another  distinction.  The  Prayer- 
Book  is  the  work  of  the  most  devout,  the  most 
loyal,  and  the  most  distinguished  sons  the  Church 
has  had  ;  all  however  Clergy.     Probably  there  is 


THE   HYMNAL  28 1 

not  a  voice  there  which  is  not  the  voice  of  an  or- 
dained minister  of  the  Lord. 

The  Hymnal,  on  the  contrary,  contains  not  the 
work  of  the  Clergy  only,  but  of  the  laymen,  and 
of  the  gifted  women  of  the  Church.  Here  their 
words  appear  side  by  side  with  those  of  bishop 
and  archbishop.  Nor  is  this  all.  In  the  Hymnal 
we  often  hear  the  voices  of  those  who,  while  the 
Church's  children,  as  all  baptized  persons  must 
be,  yet  have  not  known  the  mother  that  bore 
them.  All  are  not  Churchmen  who  are  of  the 
Church.  Such,  for  example,  were  Isaac  Watts 
himself  and  Philip  Doddridge.  They  were  fa- 
mous Congregational  ministers  in  their  day.  Yet 
the  Church  has  lovingly  placed  their  sacred  songs 
among  the  songs  of  the  most  loyal  of  her  chil- 
dren. 

Here  is  Catholicity,  not  in  word,  but  in  deed  ; 
for  the  Hymnal  is  common  ground.  Layman  and 
priest,  separatist  and  churchman,  all  meet  here  in 
a  goodly  company,  and  their  voices  are  blended 
together  in  one  triumphant  song  of  praise.  May 
we  not  hope  that  in  this  we  have  a  foretaste  of 
that  final  blendinsf  into  one  sweet  harmonious 
note,  when  we  shall  all  learn  to  sing  the  New 
Song  before  the  throne  of  God.     Our  Hymnal,  if 


282  IN  THE   HOUSEHOLD   OF   FAITH 

for  nothing  else,  is  dear  to  us  as  the  first  great 
step  toward  practical  unity,  when  "  Ephraim  shall 
not  envy  Judah,  and  Judah  shall  not  vex  Eph- 
raim." ^ 

There  is  a  power  in  hymns  that  never  dies  ; 
easily  learned  in  the  days  of  childhood  and  of 
youth  ;  often  repeated  ;  seldom,  if  ever,  forgotten  ; 
— they  abide  with  us,  a  most  precious  heritage 
among  all  the  changes  of  our  earthly  life.  The}' 
form  a  fitting  and  most  welcome  expression  for 
every  kind  of  deep  religious  feeling ;  they  are 
vv^ith  us  to  speak  of  faith  and  hope  in  hours  of 
trial  and  sorrow  ;  with  us  to  animate  to  all  Chris- 
tian effort ;  with  us  as  the  rich  consolation  of  in- 
dividual hearts,  and  as  one  common  bond  of  fel- 
lowship between  the  living  members  of  Christ's 
mystical  Body. 

I  Isaiah  xi.  13. 


APPENDICES 


APPENDIX    I. 

DATES   INTERESTING  TO   AMERICAN   CHURCHMEN. 
A.D. 

33.  The  Church  founded  at  Jerusalem  (Acts  ii.— see  Acts  xi.  26). 

43-61.  Christian  missionaries  arrive  in  Britain. 

207.  "  Parts  of  Britain  inaccessible  to  the  Romans  become  sub- 
ject to  Christ." 

304.  Martyrdom  of  Alban  at  Verulam,  Britain's  proto-martyr. 

314.  Three  British  bishops  represent  the  British  Church  in  a 
council  held  at  Aries  in  France. ' 

431.  Patrick  goes  from  Britain  as  a  missionary  to  Ireland. 

597.  First  Italian  mission  enters  Britain. 

597-672.  Native  and  Italian  missionaries  separately  work  for 
the  complete  conversion  of  the  inhabitants  of  Britain. 

673.  The  various  missions  are  consolidated,  and  under  Arch- 
bishop Theodore,  a  National  Church  of  England  comes 
into  existence. 

1066-1070.  The  English  Church  begins  to  fall  under  domina- 
tion of  Rome. 

121 5.  King  John  is  compelled  to  sign  the  famous  Magna  Charta, 

1  On  the  occasion  of  the  celebration  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  eighty-fifth 
birthday  anniversary  an  interesting  incident  occurred.  The  Arme- 
nian congregation  in  London  presented  to  Hawarden  Church  a  chalice, 
as  a  token  of  respect  for  its  distinguished  parishioner,  and  in  their 
address  of  congratulation  referred  to  the  antiquity  of  their  Church, 
which  dated  back  to  A.D.  302,  and  had  remained  ever  since  an  in- 
dependent national  Church.  With  his  usual  felicity,  Mr.  Gladstone, 
in  his  response,  said  he  could  rightly  claim  for  the  Church  of  the 
country  in  which  they  were  then  standing,  an  antiquity  fully  equal  to 
theirs,  for,  in  A.D.  310,  three  British  bishops  were  present  at  a  coun- 
cil in  France. 


286  APPENDIX   I. 

the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  (Stephen  Langton  as- 
sisting the  Barons  against  Pope  Innocent  III.)  saying: 
"  The  English  Church  shall  be  free." 

1497.  John  Cabot  discovers  the  mainland  of  America  and  takes 
possession  for  England  and  for  the  English  Church. 

1534.  England  formally  withdraws  from  the  papal  allegiance. 

1559.  Matthew  Parker  is  consecrated  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 

in  the  Chapel  at  Lambeth  by  Bishops  Barlow  of  Chich- 
ester, Hodgkins  of  Bedford,  Coverdale  of  Exeter,  and 
Scory  of  Hereford. 

1560.  Pius  IV.  offers  to  recognize  the  English  Church,  provided 

she  recognizes  him  as  pope  and  yields  him  obedience. 

1578.  Frobisher's  chaplain  celebrates  the  Holy  Communion  in 

Newfoundland ;  first  recorded  celebration  in  the  New 
World. 

1579.  Second  Italian  mission  enters  England. 

1579.  Rev.  Francis  Fletcher  holds  service  on  the  Pacific  Coast, 

at  Drake's  Bay,  Cal. 
1587.  First  recorded  native  baptism  on  the  Adantic  Coast,  at 

Roanoke,  N.  C. 

1587.  First  child  born  of  English  parents  in  New  World — Vir- 

ginia Dare— is  baptized  at  Roanoke. 

1588.  Sixtus  v..    Bishop  of   Rome,   unsuccessfully  assists   the 

Spanish  Armada  against  England. 
1 588.   Sir  Walter  Raleigh  sends  a  donation  "  for  the  propagation 

of  the  Christian  religion  "  at  Roanoke. 
1607.  First  church  built  in  New  England,  erected  by  Churchmen 

at  Fort  St.  George,  Sagadahoc,  Me. 
1607.  First  recorded  sermon  in  New  England,  by  Rev.  Richard 

Seymour,  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England. 
1607.  First  recorded  celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion  on  the 

mainland  of  America,  in  the  church  at  Jamestown,  Va. 
161 9.  First  elected  representative  body  on  this  continent  meets 

in  Jamestown  Church,  and  after  prayers  by  the  rector, 

legislates  for  the  Church  and  Commonwealth. 
1632.  Charles  I.,  a  Churchman,  gives  Cecil  Calvert,  a  Roman 

Catholic,  the  Charter  of  Maryland. 


APPENDIX   I.  287 

1633.  Churchmen  in  Maryland  from  the  first  are  styled  "  Prot- 
estant Catholicks." 

1636.  Archbishop  Laud  develops  a  plan  for  a  North  American 
Episcopate. 

1649.  The  Act  of  Toleration  in  Maryland  passed  mainly  under 
Protestant  influences. 

1649.  Ordinance  of  Cromwell  for  "  propagating  the  Gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ  "  in  New  England. 

1692.  Parishes  in  Maryland  legally  constituted  under  the  Church 
of  England. 

1700.  The  celebrated  Rev.  Dr.  Bray  visits  Maryland  as  com- 

missary of  the  Bishop  of  London. 

1 701.  On  Dr.  Bray's  return  "  The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 

the  Gospel"  is  founded  in  England.^ 

1702.  Revs.  George  Keith  and  Patrick  Gordon,  the  first  mis- 

sionaries of  the  S.  P.  G.,  sail  from  England  and  land  at 

Boston  in  New  England. 
1736.  Rev.  John  Wesley  two  years  a  missionary  of  the  S.  P.  G. 

in  Georgia. 
1736.  Rev.  Thomas   Thompson  of    New  Jersey  sails  for  the 

Gold  Coast;   the  first  missionary  of  English-speaking 

people  to  Africa. 
1738.  A  missionary  of  the  S.  P.  G.  to  the  Mohawk  Indians  re- 
ports a  church  of  500  members  with  50  communicants. 
1740.  The  S.  P.  G.  establishes  Trinity  School,  at  Nevv^  York,  for 

the  Mohawks. 

1774.  The  rector  of  Christ  Church  and  St.  Peter's,  Philadelphia, 

opens  "  in  full  canonicals  "  the  first  congress  of   the 
United  Colonies. 

1775.  Patrick  Henry,  a  devout  Churchman,  sounds  in  Virginia 

the  keynote  of  the  coming  struggle  for  independence — 
"  Give  me  liberty  or  give  me  death." 

1776.  Richard  Henry  Lee,  a  Churchman,  offers  the  resolution 

declaring  the  thirteen  colonies  to  be  "  free  and  inde- 
pendent States." 
1782.  The  Aitkin  Bible  printed  by  order  of  Congress. 
1  This  society  is  commonly  called  the  S.  P.  G. 


288  APPENDIX   I. 

1783.  Dr.  Samuel  Seabury,  an  S.  P.  G.  missionar}%  is  elected 
Bishop  of  Connecticut. 

1783.  Our  American  Church  first  styled  "Protestant  Episco- 

pal." ' 

1784.  Dr.  Seabury  is  consecrated  a  bishop  in  Scotland. 

1785.  The  proposed  Book  of  Common  Prayer  offered  for  adop- 

tion by  our  General  Convention,  but  not  accepted. 
1787.  The  first  Bishops  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  York  (Drs. 
White  and  Provoost)  are  duly  consecrated  in  the  Chapel 
at  Lambeth  Palace,  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

1789.  Ratification  of  our  Book  of  Common  Prayer  at  the  Gen- 

eral Convention  in  Philadelphia. 

1790.  The  first  Bishop  of  Virginia  (Dr.  James  Madison)  con- 

secrated in  England  ;  he  was  the  last  of  our  bishops 
consecrated  abroad. 

1792.  Thomas  John  Claggett  is  consecrated  Bishop  of  Mary- 
land, in  Trinity  Church,  New  York  ;  the  Jirs/  consecra- 
tion of  a  bishop  in  the  United  States. 

1895.  Washington,  the  Capital  of  this  nation,  is  made  the  see 
city  of  a  Diocese  in  our  church — over  1 70  bishops  having 
been  meanwhile  consecrated  by  our  Church  in  America 
since  1792,  when  Washington  was  included  in  the 
Diocese  of  Maryland. 

1  As  to  the  first  appearance,  or  official  sanction  of  our  present  legal 
title,  "  Protestant  Episcopal :  "  Bishop  Perry,  in  his  History  of  the 
American  Episcopal  Church,  says  (vol.  ii. ,  p.  5),  that  it  was  first  used 
by  a  representative  body  in  Maryland,  in  1783.  The  document  is  now 
in  the  archives  of  the  General  Convention,  and  has  the  following  title- 
paragraph  :  "A  Declaration  of  fundamental  Rights  &  Liberties  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  Maryland  ;  had  and  made  at  a 
Convention  or  Meeting  of  the  Clergy  of  said  Church,  duly  assembled  at 
Annapolis,  August  13,  1783,  agreeable  to  a  vote  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly passed  upon  a  p'ltition  presented  in  the  Name  and  Behalf  of  the 
said  Clergy." 


APPENDIX    II. 

Organized  dioceses  of  the  Church  in  the  United  States,  with  the  dates  of 
the  Conventions,  Diocesan  or  General,  in  which  they  first  appear  [akhough 
not  possessing,  it  may  be,  any  true  diocesan  organization  at  the  time],  and 
the  dates  of  their  completed  organization  under  bishops.' 


Diocese. 


Connecticut,  1783  . 
Pennsylvania,  1784 
New  York,  1785.  . . 

Virginia,  1785 

Maryland,  1780' 


First  Bishop. 


Consecrated. 


*  South  Carolina,  1785. 
**  Massachusetts,  1784.  . 

*  New  Jersey,  1784 

Ohio,  1817 

North  Carohna,  1790 

*••  Vermont,  1790 , 

Kentucky,  1829 

Tennessee,  1S28 


tt  Illinois,  1835 


Michigan,  1832. 


Samuel  Seabury '    14  Nov. ,  1784, 

in  Scotland. 

William  White 4  Feb. ,  1787, 

in  England. 

Samuel  Provoost 4  Feb..  1787, 

in  England. 

James  Madison 19  Sept. ,  1790, 

in  England. 

Thomas  John  Claggett 1    17  Sept.,  1792, 

I    by  all  four  of 
the  above. 

Robert  Smith 13  Sept. ,  1795. 

Edward  Bass 7  May,  1797. 

John  Croes 19  Nov.,  1815. 

Philander  Chase 11  Feb.,  1819. 

John  Stark  Ravenscroft 22  May,  1823. 

John  Henry  Hopkins 31  Oct. ,  1832. 

Benjamin  Bosv.orth  Smith...  ;    31  Oct.,  1832. 

James  Hervey  Otey I    14  Jan. ,  1834, 

fr.  Mis.  Jurisd. 

Philander  Chase :    11  Feb. ,  1819, 

styled  "  Chica- 
\    go,"fr.  1883. 
Samuel  Allen  McCoskry 7  July,  1836. 


1  It  is  a  common  error  to  suppose  that  a  Missionary  Bishop,  Assistant  Bishop,  Suf- 
fragan Bishop,  or  Bishop  Coadjutor,  is  not  a  "  full  bishop."  That  this  error  is  not 
merely  of  the  unlearned,  will  appear  from  the  tablet  inscription  in  S.  Paul's  Church, 
Baltimore,  set  up  to  the  memory  of  Bishop  Kemp,  in  which  he  is  described  as  "  Con- 
secrated Suffragan  Bishop,  September  ist,  1814 — succeeded  to  the  full  Episcopate  a.d. 
1816."  The  truth  is  that  Bi.shop  Kemp  was  as  much  a  bishop  on  the  day  of  his  consecra- 
tion as  he  ever  was.  No  assistant  in  a  parish  who  should  be  appointed  to  the  rector- 
ship could  be  accurately  described  as  having  succeeded  to  the  full  priesthood.  So 
every  bishop  is  a  full  bishop— there  are  no  deacons  in  Episcopal  orders.  Once  a 
bishop,  alv.ays  a  bishop.  He  may  resign  his  diocese,  but  he  cannot  resign  the  episco- 
pate ;  that  is  indelible. 


19 


290 


APPENDIX   II. 

Appendix  II.  —  Contimied. 


Diocese. 


First  Bishop. 


Consecrated. 


Western  New  York,  183 

Georgia,  1823 

t  Louisiana,  1835 

"^  Delaware,  1786 

^'^  Rhode  Island,  1790 

**New  Hampshire,  1802  ., 

t  Alabama,  1830 

Missouri,  1839 

**  Maine,  1820 

Indiana,  183S 

t  Mississippi,  1825 

Florida,  1S38 

Wisconsin,  1847 , 

Iowa.  1853 

California,  1S50 

Texas,  1849 

Minnesota,  1857 

Kansas,  1859 

Pittsburg,  1865 

Nebraska,  i863 

Long  Island,  1868 

Albany,  1868 | 

Easton,i868 ■ 

Central  New  York,  1868. 

i 
Arkansas,  1871 ' 

Central  Penn. ,  1871 

Northern  N.  J.,  1874 

Western  Michigan,  1874. 
Southern  Ohio,  1875 


Wm.  Heathcote  De  Lancey 


Stephen  Elliott. 
Leonidas  Polk  . 


Alfred  Lee 

John  Prentiss  Kewly  Henshaw 

Carlton  Chase 

Nicholas  Hamner  Cobbs 

Cicero  Stephens  Hawks 

George  Burgess 


George  Upfold 

William  Mercer  Green.. 
Francis  Huger  Rutledge 
Jackson  Kemper 


Henry  Washington  Lee 
William  Ingraham  Kip., 


Alexander  Gregg 

Henry  Benjamin  \\'^hipple. 

Thomas  Hubbard  Vail 

John  Barrett  Kerfoot 


Robert  Harper  Clarkson 

Abram  Newkirk  Littlejohn  . . 

William  Croswell  Doane 

Henry  Champlin  Lay 

Frederic  Dan  Huntington  . . . 

Henry  Niles  Pierce 

Mark  Antony  De  Wolfe  Howe 
William  Henry  Odenheimer. 

Geo.  De  Normandie  Gillespie 
Thomas  Augustus  Jagger  . , . 


1843. 
1844. 
1844. 
1844. 
1847. 


9  May,  1839, 
fr.  New  York. 
28  Feb.,  1841. 
9  Dec,  1838, 
fr.  Mis.  Jurisd. 

12  Oct.,  1841. 
II  Aug. 
20  Oct. 
20  Oct. 
20  Oct. 
31  Oct. 

fr.  Mass. 
16  Dec,  1849. 

24  Feb.,  1850. 
15  Oct.,  1851. 

25  Sept.,  1835, 
fr.  Mis.  Jurisd., 

'  Milwaukee," 
1886. 

18  Oct.,  1854. 

28  Oct.,  1853, 

fr.  Mis.  Jurisd. 

13  Oct.,  1859. 
23  Oct.,  1859. 
15  Dec,  1864. 
25  Jan.,  1866, 

fr.  Penn. 
15  Nov.,  1865, 
fr.  Mis.  Jurisd. 

27  Jan.,  1869, 
fr.  New  York. 

2  Feb.,  1869, 
fr.  New  York. 

23  Oct.,  1859, 
fr  Maryland. 
8  April,  1869, 

fr.  New  York. 
25  Jan.,  1870, 

fr.  Mis.  Jurisd. 
28  Dec,  1871, 

fr.  Penn. 
13  Oct.,  1859, 

fr.N. J.,  "New- 
ark," 1886. 

24  Feb.,  1875, 
fr.  Michigan. 

28  April,  1875, 
fr.  Ohio. 


APPENDIX   II. 
Appendix  II. — Continued. 


291 


Diocese. 


First  Bishop. 


Consecrated. 


Fond  du  Lac,  1875 I  John  Henry  Hobart  Brown. . 

Quincy,  1877 Alexander  Burgess 

West  Virginia,  1877 ,  George  William  Peterkin 

Springfield,  1877 ,  George  Franklin  Seymour. . . 

East  Carolina,  1883 Alfred  Augustin  Watson  . . . 

Colorado,  1887 John  Franklin  Spalding 

Oregon,  18S9 Benjamin  Wistar  Morris 

West  Missouri,  1890 Edward  Robert  Atwill 

Southern  Virginia,  1892. .     Alfred  Magill  Randolph 


Washington,  1895 

Northern  Texas,  1895. ...     Alexander  Charles  Garrett. 


Kentucky,  1895. . 

California,  1895. 
Marquette,  1895 


I   15  Dec,  1875, 

fr.  Wisconsin. 

15  May,  1878, 

fr.  Illinois. 

j   30  May,  1878, 

fr.  Virginia. 

I    II  June,  1878, 

fr.  Illinois. 

17  April,  1&84, 

fr.  N.  Carolina. 

31  Dec,  1873, 

fr.  Mis.  Jurisd. 

3  Dec,  1868, 

fr.  Mis.  Jurisd. 

14  Oct.,  1890, 

fi.  Missouri. 

21  Oct.,  1883, 

fr.  Virginia. 

fr.  Maryland. 

20  Dec,  1874, 

fr.  Mis.  Jurisd. 

fr.  Kentucky. 

fr.  California. 
fr.  Michigan. 


*  Dioceses  marked  thus  (*;before  their  organization  as  dioceses  were  represented  by 
clerical  and  lay  deputies  from  their  several  States  in  a  convention  which  met  at  New 
York  in  October,  1784. 

**  The  Eastern  Diocese  was  a  confederation  of  four  of  the  New  England  dioceses — 
Massachusetts  [including  Maine],  Rhode  Island,  New  Hampshire,  and  Vermont — for 
the  purpose  of  securing  a  bishop  who  might  serve  for  them  all.  Massachusetts  had  al- 
ready had  two  bishops,  but  they  had  both  died  soon  after  consecration.  The  first  con- 
vention of  the  Eastern  Diocese  was  held  May  9,  1810,  when  delegates,  both  clerical 
and  lay,  from  the  four  dioceses  were  present,  and  the  Rev.  Alexander  Viets  Griswold 
was  elected  Bishop,  and  he  was  consecrated  May  29,  1811.  This  diocese  dissolved  of 
itself  in  1843,  when  Bishop  Griswold  died.  In  1841  Massachusetts  had  elected  an  As- 
sistant Bishop  to  Bishop  Griswold,  to  serve  in  that  State — the  Rev.  Manton  Eastburn, 
consecrated  Assistant  Bishop  of  the  Eastern  Diocese,  and  he  became  simply  Bishop  of 
Massachusetts  on  Bishop  Griswold's  death.  Vermont  had  already  elected  a  bishop 
in  1832.  So  that  at  the  time  of  his  death  Bishop  Griswold  was  in  reality  Bishop  of 
Rhode  Island  and  New  Hampshire,  with  the  title  of  Bishop  of  the  Eastern  Diocese. 

+  "  The  Dioceses  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama,  and  the  churches  and  clergy  in  the 
State  of  Louisiana  were  authorized  to  associate  and  join  in  the  election  of  a  Bishop," 
by  the  General  Convention  of  October,  1832.  In  accordance  with  this  permission 
delegates  from  those  three  dioceses  met  in  New  Orleans  March  4,  1835,  adopted  a 
Constitution  for  a  General  Diocese  under  the  name  of  the  South  Western  Diocese,  and 
elected  the  Rev.  Francis  L.  Hawks,  D.D.,  to  be  their  Bishop  ;  but  he  declined,  and  it 
does  not  appear  that  there  ever  was  any  other  convention  held  under  that  authority. 

tt  Bishop  Chase,  consecrated  1819,  resigned  Ohio  in  1831  and  went  into  the  V^'est, 
where  he  became  Bishop  of  Illinois  in  1835. 


APPENDIX   III. 

The  Senior  Bishops  of  the  American  Church. 

(The  "  Presiding  Bishops  "  are  marked  with  ^  for  distinction.) 

■1     I.  Samuel   Seabury,   Bp.  of  Connecticut,  14  Nov.,  1784; 

died  25th  Feb.,  1796  =  11  y.  3  m. 
^     2.  William  White,  Bp.  of  Pennsylvania,  4  Feb.,  1787  ;  died 

17th  July,  1836  =  40  y.  5  m. 
*iF  12.  Alex.  Viets  Griswold,  Bp.  of  Eastern  Diocese,  29  May, 

1811  ;  died  15th  Feb.,  1843  =  6  y.  y  m. 
'^  18.  Philander  Chase,  Bp.  of  (Ohio  tr.  to)   Illinois,  11  Feb., 

1819  ;  died  20th  Sept.,  1852  =  9  y.  7  m. 
^  19.  Thos.  Church  Brownell,  Bp.  of  Connecticut,   27  Oct., 

1 819;  died  13th  Jan.,  1865  =  12  y.  4  m. 
[25.    Levi  Silliman  Ives,  Bp.  of  N.  Carolina,  22  Sept.,  1831  ; 

dep.  1853  ;  died  13th  Oct.,  1867.] 
^  26.  John  Henry  Hopkins,  Bp.  of  Vermont,  31  Oct.,  1832; 

died  9th  Jan.,  1868  =  3  y. 
1  27.  Benj.  Bosworth  Smith,  Bp.  of  Kentucky,  31  Oct.,  1832  ; 

died  31st  May,  1884  =  16  y.  5  m. 
[32.    Saml.  Allen  McCoskry,  Bp.  of  Michigan,  7  July,  1836; 

res.  1878  ;  died  ist  Aug.,  1886.] 
IT  38.  Alfred  Lee,  Bp.  of  Delaware,  12  Oct.,  1841  ;  died  12th 

ApL,  1887  =  2  y.  10  m. 
t  47.  Horatio  Southgate,  Miss.  Bp.  of  Constantinople,  26  Oct., 

1844  [res.  1850]  died  12th  ApL,  1894  =  7  y. 
IT  54.  John  Williams,  Bp.  of  Connecticut,  29  Oct.,  1851  ;  be- 
came presiding  Bp.  on  death  of  Bp.  Lee,  April,  1887  ; 

Senior  Bp.  on  death  of  Bp.  Southgate,  April,  1894;  up 

to  present  time,  14 Oct.,  1895,  he  has  been  Senior  Bp.  i 


APPENDIX   III.  293 

y.  6  m.  Thus  from  14  Nov.,  1784,  to  14  Oct.,  1895, 
is  in  the  total  =  1 10  y.  11  m. 

*Bishop  Seabury,  always  the  Senior  American  Bishop,  was  Pre- 
siding Bishop  on  Oct.  21,  1789,  thereafter  (i 789-1 796)  the  rank 
of  Presiding  Bishop  was  usurped  by  Bishop  White.  This  usur- 
pation was  defended  on  the  ground  that  Bishop  Seabury 's  con- 
secration by  non-juring  bishops  was  irregular ;  and  also  because 
he  was  drawing  a  pension  from  the  British  Government.  But 
in  the  first  place,  Bishop  White's  own  consecration  might  have 
been  impugned  on  the  same  ground,  for  he  himself  was  distinctly 
a  non-juror ;  and  in  the  second  place.  Bishop  Seabury's  reten- 
tion of  his  "  half  pay  "  did  not  put  him  under  such  permanent 
obligation  to  the  British  Government  as  did  the  acceptance  by 
Bishops  White,  Provoost  and  Madison,  of  their  Episcopal  orders 
at  the  hands  of  their  English  consecrators — for  those  three  bishops 
only  obtained  English  consecration  under  an  Enabling  Act  of 
the  British  Parliament  and  by  the  grace  and  favor  of  duly  sworn 
Privy  Councillors  of  Great  Britain  acting  under  the  King's  Royal 
Warrant.  On  Bishop  Seabury's  death,  however,  Bishop  White 
became  Presiding  Bishop  by  undoubted  right  of  seniority. 

t  It  will  be  observed  that  Bishop  Southgate  was  Senior  Bishop 
from  April,  1887,  till  his  death  in  April,  1894.  During  all  that 
time,  however,  Bishop  Williams  was  Presiding  Bishop,  and  justly 
so,  inasmuch  as  Bishop  Southgate  had  no  regular  See.  But  had 
Bishop  Southgate,  after  his  return  from  Constantinople,  been 
elected  to  a  diocese,  he  would  at  once  have  become  Presiding 
Bishop  in  place  of  Bishop  Williams  ! ! 

Perhaps  nothing  more  clearly  shows  the  need  of  some  effec- 
tive legislation  upon  the  always  important  subject  as  to  what 
bishop  shall  be  the  Primate  of  our  American  Church. 


APPENDIX   IV. 

LIST   OF     THE    PRESENT    MISSIONARY    BISHOPS,    WITH   THEIR 
SEVERAL   JURISDICTIONS,    1895. 

(The  marginal  numbers  refer  to  the  Succession  of  American  Bishops.) 


These  jurisdictions  are  not  "  dioceses,''  though  sometimes  so  styled. 


{Missionary  bishops  abroad  are  not  included  in  this  list.) 

100.  Wm.  Hobart  Hare,  Miss.  Bp.  of  Niobrara,  9  Jan.,  1873 
[Niobrara  included  the  Dakotas]  ;  became  Miss.  Bp.  of 
South  Dakota  in  1883,  relinquishing  North  Dakota. 

107.  John  Henry  Ducachet  Wingfieid,  Miss.  Bp.  of  Northern 
California,  2  Nov.,  1874.  [Territory  taken  from  Cali- 
fornia.] 

126.  Leigh  Richmond  Brewer,  Miss.  Bp.  of  Montana,  8  Dec, 
1880. 

133.  Wm.  David  Walker,  Miss.  Bp.  of  North  Dakota,  20 
Dec,  1883.  [Territory  taken  from  Niobrara,  divided 
into  North  and  South  Dakota.] 

143.  Ethelbert  Talbot,  Miss.  Bp.  of  Wyoming  and  Idaho, 

27  May,  1887. 

144.  James  Steptoe  Johnson,  Miss.  Bp.  of  Western  Texas, 

6  Jan.,  1888.  [Territory  taken  from  Texas,  Robert  W. 
Barnwell  Elliott,  ist  Miss.  Bp.,  15  Nov.,  1874;  died  22 
Aug.,  1887.] 

145.  Abiel   Leonard,  Miss.  Bp.  of  Nevada   and   Utah,   25 

Jan.,  1888.  [Daniel  S.  Tuttle,  ist  Miss.  Bp.  of  Utah,  i 
May,   1867,  translated   to   Missouri   in    1886;    Ozi   W. 


APPENDIX   IV.  295 

Whitaker,  ist  Miss.  Bp.  of  Nevada,  13  Oct.,  1869,  trans- 
lated Assistant  to  Pennsylvania  in  1886.] 

147.  John  Mills  Kendrick,  Miss.  Bp.  of  New  Mexico  and 
Arizona,  18  Jan.,  1889.  [Wm.  F.  Adams,  ist  Miss. 
Bp.,  17  Jan.,  1875,  resigned  in  1876,  is  now  Bp.  of 
Easton  ;  George  K.  Dunlop,  2d  Miss.  Bp.,  21  Nov.,  1880 ; 
died  12  March,  1888.] 

153.  Anson  Rogers  Graves,  Miss.  Bp.  of  The  Platte,  i  Jan., 
1890.  [Territory  taken  from  Nebraska,  i.e.  Western 
Nebraska.] 

163.  Lemuel  Henry  Wells,  Miss.  Bp.  of    Spokane,  16  Dec, 

1892.  [Spokane  is  Eastern  Washington ;  Thos.  F. 
Scott,  1st  Miss.  Bp.  of  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory, 
8  Jan.,  1854  ;  died  14  July,  1867  ;  Benj .  W.  Morris,  2d 
Miss.  Bp.  of  O.  and  W.  Terr.,  3  Dec,  1868,  became  Miss. 
Bp.  of  Oregon  in  1880 ;  John  A.  Paddock,  3d  Miss.  Bp. 
of  Washington,  15  Dec,  1880,  became  Miss.  Bp.  of 
Olympia  in  1892,  relinquishing  Spokane.] 

164.  Wm.  Crane  Gray,  Miss.  Bp.  of  Southern  Florida,  27 

Dec,  1892.     [Territory  taken  from  Florida.] 

165.  Francis  Key  Brooke,  Miss.  Bp.   of  Oklahoma,  6  Jan., 

1893.  [His  jurisdiction  includes  also  the  whole  Indian 
Territory.] 

166.  Wm.  Morris  Barker,  Miss.  Bp.  of  Western  Colorado, 

25  Jan.,  1893.  [Territory  taken  from  Colorado.]  He  be- 
came Miss.  Bp.  of  Olympia  in  1895.  [Olympia  is 
Western  Washington  ;  Thos.  F.  Scott,  ist  Miss.  Bp.  of 
Oregon  and  Washington  Territory,  8  Jan.,  1854  ;  died  14 
July,  1867  ;  Benj.  W.  Morris,  2d  Miss.  Bp.  of  O.  and  W. 
Terr.,  3  Dec,  1868,  became  Miss.  Bp.  of  Oregon  in 
1880;  John  A.  Paddock,  3d  Miss.  Bp.  of  Washington, 
15  Dec,  1880,  became  Miss.  Bp.  of  Olympia  in  1892, 
relinquishing  Spokane,  and  died  4  March,  1894.] 

Peter  Trimble  Rowe  [Elect],  Miss.  Bp.  of  Alaska. 

Miss.  Bp.  of  Asheville,  N.  C. 

Miss.  Bp.  of  Duluth. 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 


THE    OLD    CHURCH    IN    THE 
NEW    LAND. 

Lectures  on  Church  History. 

By  the  Rev.  C.  Ernest  Smith,  Rector  of  St.  Michael  and  All 
Angels',  Baltimore.  With  a  Preface  by  the  Bishop  of  Mary- 
land.    i2mo,  $1.25. 

"  We  heartily  endorse  the  recommendation  of  the  Bishop  of  Maryland, 
and  we  go  further ;  we  should  say  that  this  little  book  is  perhaps  the  very 
best  historical  account  of  the  Church  of  England  for  family  reading  that  we 
have  ever  setn  ;  and  an  attentive  congregation  to  which  these  lectures 
should  be  read  would  be  well  prepared  to  vindicate  the  position  of  the  An- 
glican Church  against  the  assaults  of  either  Rome  or  Geneva.  It  is  not  a 
controversial  book,  but  its  statements  are  so  plain  as  to  make  agreement 
superfluous."— Church  Standard,  Philadelphia. 

"  Here  is  a  book  for  every  member  of  the  Brotherhood  to  own  and  study.'' 

—St.  Andrews'  Cross,  N.  Y. 

"The  book  ought  to  be  widely  read.  It  is  full  of  life  and  movement. 
The  writer  has  clothed  the  dry  bones  of  ecclesiastical  history  with  a  comely 
and  attractive  form,  and  breathed  into  it  the  breath  of  life.  .  .  .  They 
differ  in  several  important  points  from  anything  which  has  been  published 
before  in  America.  .  .  .  For  the  general  reader,  for  the  young,  and  for 
those  uniformed  as  to  the  history  of  our  Mother  Church,  for  the  season  of 
Lent,  for  lay  readers,  and  for  Parish  libraries,  this  will  be  found  an  almost 
invaluable  book."— Churchman,  N.  Y. 

"  The  lectures  give  a  very  clear  and  succinct  account  of  the  rise,  source, 
and  progress  of  the  Christian  Church,  of  the  early  heroes  of  Christianity, 
such  as  St.  Patrick  and  St.  Columba,  the  Anglican  Church  under  the  Saxons, 
under  the  Normans,  the  Reformation,  Puritanism,  and  lastly  the  American 
Church.  There  is  an  especially  interesting  chapter  devoted  to  '  Shakespeare, 
a  son  of  the  Reformation.'" — National  Church. 


CALL    TO    CONFIRMATION. 

A  Manual  of  Instruction  for  Candidates. 

By  the  Rev.  C.  Ernest  Smith,  M.A.,  Rector  of  the  Church  of 
St.  Michael  and  All  Angels',  Baltimore,  Md.,  author  of  "  The 
Old  Church  in  the  New  Land,"  "In  the  Household  of  Faith." 
i8mo,  paper  covers,  12  cents  ;/t'/;  or  bound  in  cloth,  25  cents. 


LONGMANS,  GREEN,  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS,  NEW  YORK. 


NEW    BOOKS. 


THE  FOUNDATIONS  OF  BELIEF  :  Being  Notes  Introduc- 
tory to  the  Study  of  Theology. 

By  the  Right  Hon.  Arthur  James  Balfour,  author  of  "  A  Defence 
of    Philosophic  Doubt."     Crown  8vo,  374  pages,  $2.00. 

"Mr.  Balfour's  'Foundations  of  Belief  is  a  book  rather  of  destructive  than 
constructive  criticism.  It  succeeds  to  a  very  remarkable  degree  in  breaking  down 
the  pretensions  of  materialistic  science  to  claim  the  whole  field  of  human  knowl- 
edge and  belief  under  the  term  naturalism.  The  author  has  been  successful  in 
showing  that  religious  instinct  and  theology  stand  as  warranties  of  truth  on  a 
nietaphysic  basis  of  belief  which  is,  at  least,  as  strong  as  that  on  which  science 
stands.  This  is  a  great  step  toward  proving  the  utter  failure,  so  far,  of  scientific 
discovery  and  speculation  to  explode  the  claims  of  Christian  revelation." 

— Churchman,  New  York. 

PERSECUTION  AND  TOLERANCE.  Being  the  Hulsean 
Lectures  Preached  before  the  University  of  Cambridge  in 
1893-4. 

By  M.  Creighton,  D.D.,  Oxon.  and  Cam.,  Lord  Bishop  of  Peter- 
borough.    Crown  8vo,  cloth,  81-25. 

A    LENT    IN    LONDON  :     A    Course   of  Sermons   on    Social 
Subjects  Organized  by  the  London  Branch  of  the  Christian 
Social  Union,  and  Preached  in  the  Churches  of  St.  Edmund, 
Lombard  Street,  and  St.  Mary-le-Strand,  during  Lent,  1895. 
With  a  Preface  by  Henry  Scott  Holland,  M.A.,  Canon  and  Pre- 
centor of  St.  Paul's.     Crown  Svo,  $1.25. 
*:(:*  This  volume  contains  Sermons  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Rev. 
Edmund   McClure,   M.A.,    Rev.  T.    Hancock.- M. A.,    Rev.  R.   R.   Dolling,    Rev. 
Wilfrid    Richmond,  M.A.,    Rev.  H.  Russell   Wakefield,  M.A..  Rev.  J.  Llewelyn 
Davies,D.D.,  Rev.  Bernard  R.Wilson,  M.A.,  Rev.  J.  Charles  Cox,  LL.D.,  F.S.A., 
Rev.  H.   C.  Shuttleworth,  M.A.,    Rev.    Canon   Barnett,  M.A.,    Rev.   Stewart   D, 
Headlam,  B.A.,    Rev.    Prebendary   Harrv  Jones,    M.A.,    Rev.    G.  Sarson,    M.A., 
Rev.  Percv  Dearmer,  B.A.,  Rev.  Canon  Henrv  Scott  Holland,  M.A.,  Rev.  E.  F. 
Russell,  M.A.,  Rev.  W.  C.  G.  Lang,  M.A.,  Rev.  A.  Chandler,  M.A.,    Rev.  Pre- 
bendary Eyton,  Rev.  T.  C.  Fry,  D.D.,  Rev.  A.  L.  Lilley,  M.A.,  and  Rev.  W.  C. 
Gordon  Lang. 

THE     LIFE     AND     TIMES    OF    JOHN     KETTLEWELL. 

With  Details  of  the  History  of  the   Non-Jurors. 
By    the    author  of    ''Nicholas    Ferrar  :     His    Household    and    His 
Friends."     Edited,   with    an    Introduction,  by  the  Rev.  T.   T. 
Carter,  M.A,,  Hon.  Canon  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford.     Crown 
Svo,  $1.75. 

NEW  BOOK  BY  A.  K.  H.  B. 
OCCASIONAL   AND    IMMEMORIAL    DAYS. 
By  the  Very  Rev.  A.  K.  H.  Boyd,  D.D.  (Edin.),  LL.D.  (St.  And.), 
First  Minister  of  St.  Andrews  ;  author  of  "Twenty-five  Years 
of  St.  Andrews,"  "  The  Recreations  of  a  Country  Parson,"  etc. 
Crown  Svo,  $2.00. 
***This  volume  consists  of  Discourses  which  have  not  appeared  in  any  peri- 
odical, and  which  are  not  autobiographical. 


LONGMANS,  GREEN,  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS,  NEW  YORK. 


A    SELECTED    LIST 

OF 

RECENT   THEOLOGICAL   BOOKS 

PUBLISHED    BY 

LONGMANS,   GREEN,   &   CO. 

NEW   YORK 

BISHOP  A.   C.   A.  HALL. 

The  Virgin  Mother.  Retreat  Addresses  on  the  Life  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  as  Told  in  the  Gospels.  With  an 
Appended  Essay  on  the  Virgin  Birth  of  Our  Lord.  By  the 
Rt.  Rev.  A.  C.  A.  Hall,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  Vermont.     i2mo, 

$1.25. 

"  It  is  often  said,  and  the  saying  is  true,  that  Protestantism  and  Anglicanism  have 
lost  something  of  sweet  Christian  tenderness  in  their  extreme  reaction  from  the  semi- 
idolatrous  cultus  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  which  prevailed  in  the  Middle  Ages.  We  have 
not  the  slightest  tendency  to  that  form  of  doctrinal  aberration  ;  nor  would  it  be  possi- 
ble, we  suppose,  for  any 'clear-minded  Englishman  or  American  to  join  in  the  glowing 
but  hyperbolical  addresses  to  the  Mother  of  our  Lord  which  are  found  in  the  liturgies 
of  Oriental  Churches  ;  yet  it  does  seem  that  something  has  been  lost  in  our  habitual 
forgetfulness  of  the  human  being  to  whom  our  blessed  Lord  in  His  earthly  life  was 
nearest  and  dearest,  and  who,  doubtless,  of  all  the  sons  and  daughters  of  men,  was — 
nay,  perhaps  still  is — nearest  and  dearest  to  Him.  In  this  little  volume,  Bishop  Hall 
very  admirably  and  delicately  discourses  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  with  the  reverent  affec- 
tion which  is  due  to  her,  and  yet  without  the  slightest  approach  to  the  extravagances 
which  our  church  has  rightly  and  wisely  banished.  In  a  brief  appendix,  he  has 
written  a  few  timely  words  on  the  subject  of  the  virgin  birth  of  our  Lord,  considered 
as  an  article  of  the  Christian  faith." — The  Church  Standard,  Philadelphia- 

CANON    SCOTT    HOLLAND. 

God's  City :  Four  Addresses  delivered  at  St.  Asaph  on  the 
Spiritual  and  Ethical  Value  of  Belief  in  the  Church.  To 
which  are  added  six  sermons  on  kindred  subjects.  By  the 
Rev.  H.  S.  Holland,  M.A.,  Canon  and  Precentor  of  St. 
Paul's.     Crown  8vo,  $2.00. 

"  As  to  their  teaching,  we  think  them  to  be  admirable  models  of  the  spirit  in  which 
instruction  concerning  the  church  should  be  given.  .  .  .  The  doctrine  is  both  full 
and  strong,  and  is  enriched  by  that  wealth  of  illustration  which  characterizes  all  the 
author's  writings."— The  Churchman,  New  York. 

"We  sometimes  wonder  why  some  sermons  find  their  way  into  print ;  but  ser- 
mons such  as  these  are  in  character  of  an  inspiration  that  not  only  find  their  way  into 
print,  but  into  the  hearts  and  lives  of  all  who  hear  or  read  them." 

—The  Living  Church,  Chicago. 


LO.VGMANS,  GREEN,  6-  CO: S  RECENT  PUBLICATIONS. 
CANON    LIDDON. 

Clerical  Life  and  Work.  A  Collection  of  Sermons  with 
an  Essay  on  "The  Priest  in  his  Inner  Life."  By  the  Rev. 
Henry  Parry  Liddon,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  D.C.L.,  late  Canon 
and  Chancellor  of  St.  Paul's.     Crown  8vo,  §2.00. 

"  This  is  a  collection  of  sermons  addressed  at  various  times  to  the  clergy.  They 
present  a  hij^h  and  serious  view  of  clerical  life,  which  had  been  slowly  developing  in 
the  preacher's  mind  from  early  life. 

There  is  very  little  of  distinctly  'High  Church'  opinions  in  them,  but  they 
take  a  strong  hold  on  the  subject  in  hand,  and  handle  it  in  no  ordinary  way.  We 
especially  commend  to  our  clerical  friends  the  sermons  on  Our  Lord's  Example  tlie 
Strength  of  His  Ministers,  The  Secret  of  Clerical  Power,  and  The  Moral  Value  of 
a  Mission  from  Christ."'— TuK  Independent. 

NEIV  VOLUME  OF  CANON  LIDDON' S  LIFE  OF  DR.  PUSEY. 

Life  of  Edward  Bouverie  Pusey,  D.D.  By  Henry 
Parry  Liddon,  D.D.,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.  Edited  and  prepared 
for  publication  by  the  Rev.  J.  O.  Johnston,  M.A.,  Vicar  of 
All  Saints',  Oxford,  and  the  Rev.  Robert  J.  Wilson,  D.D., 
Warden  of  Keble  College.  4  vols.,  8vo.  With  Portraits  and 
Illustrations.     Vol.  I.  and  II.,  $9.00  net  Vol.  Ill,, 

$4.50  net 

"  This  volume  deals  with  what  may  be  considered,  on  the  whole,  the  most  impor- 
tant period  of  all  in  the  history  of  the  Oxford  revival." — Standard. 

"  Our  first  feeling  in  laying  down  this  long  expected  '  Life  of  Dr.  Pusey '  is  one  of 
satisfaction  that  so  important  a  subject  had  so  able  a  biographer.  In  whatever  age 
Dr.  Pusey  had  lived,  his  life  would  have  been  worth  recording,  for  it  was  great  in  its 
natural  gifts,  great  also  in  its  powers  of  devotion.  .  .  .  Here  as  in  his  most  admir- 
able commen.tary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  Dr.  Liddon  takes  nothing  for  granted. 
He  is  at  great  pains  not  only  to  make  every  name  and  event  intelligible,  but  fresh  and 
living.  A  sentence  in  a  letter  of  Dr.  Arnold's  is  a  trifle  obscure — a  foot-note  explains 
it.  An  epoch  which  in  any  other  hands  would  have  been  dull  and  uninteresting  to  the 
English  public.  Dr.  Pusey's  studies  in  Germany,  becomes  under  Dr.  Liddon  one  of 
the  freshest  chapters  in  the  book.  Eichorn,  Tholuck,  Schleiermacher,  and  Neander 
are  living  portraits.  And  yet  all  this  illustrative  matter  is  kept  carefully  subordinate. 
You  never  forget  Dr.  Pusey.     The  author  is  lost  in  his  subject." — The  Churchman. 

"  The  result  proves  that  it  is  well  worth  waiting  for.  Valuable  as  is  this  work  for 
the  portraiture  of  a  great  man,  it  has  an  especial  value  for  the  light  it  throws  upon  the 
Oxford  movement  from  contemporaneous  history  and  documents.  The  work  is 
indeed  most  complete  and  projected  on  a  grand  scale,  as  is  due  to  one  who  plaj-ed 
so  'profoundly  influential'  apart  in  the  great  religious  awakening  of  this  century.   .    .   . 

"  As  a  literary  undertaking  it  exhibits  the  tenderness  of  touch,  the  grasp  of 
details,  the  felicity  of  expression,  the  ripe  scholarship,  the  thorough  acquaintance 
with  all  the  literature  that  could  illustrate  his  subject,  that  mark  all  the  writings  of 
Dr.  Liddon."— The  Living  Church. 

"  More  has  been  expected  of  Canon  Liddon's  biography  than  from  any  other  book 
that  has  attempted  to  deal  with  the  great  Church  Reviva'l  of  the  century,  and  the 
just  anticipations  of  those  who  are  interested  in  it  will  be  realized.  Canon  Liddon 
restrains  himself  from  every  temptation  to  excess  of  statement  or  elaboration.  When- 
ever important  points  are  treated,  no  jiains  are  spared  to  give  accurate  and  full 
information,  and  his  opinions  are  never  wanting  where  they  are  deman<led.  The  fur- 
ther volumes  in  this  biography  will  be  awaited  with  eager  interest."— The  Outlook. 


LONGMANS,  GREEN,  <S-  CO: S  RECENT  PUBLICATIONS. 
REV.  C.   ERNEST  SMITH. 

The  Old  Church  in  the  New  Land.  Lectures  on 
Church  History.  By  the  Rev.  C.  Ernest  Smith,  M.A., 
Rector  of  the  Church  of  St.  Michael  and  All  Angels,  Balti- 
more, Md.,  Examining  Chaplain  to  the  Bishop  of  Maryland. 
With  a  Preface  by  the  Bishop  of  Maryland.  Crown  8vo, 
cloth,  $1.25. 

"We  heartily  endorse  the  recommendation  of  the  Bishop  of  Maryland,  and  we 
go  further  ;  we  should  say  that  this  little  book  is  perhaps  the  very  best  historical  ac- 
count of  the  Church  of  England  for  family  reading  that  we  have  ever  seen  ;  and  an  at- 
tentive congregation  to  which  these  lectures  should  be  read  would  be  well  prepared  to 
vindicate  the  position  of  the  Anglican  Church  against  the  assaults  of  either  Rome  or 
Geneva.  It  is  not  a  controversial  book,  but  its  statements  are  so  plain  as  to  make 
argument  superfluous." — The  Church  Standard. 

"These  lectures  deserve  all  the  praise  we  can  give  them.  We  strongly  recom- 
mend their  addition  to  parish  libraries,  and  their  study  to  teachers,  lay  readers,  and  to 
not  a  few  of  the  clergy.  They  retell  the  story  of  the  o'ld  church  in  the  new  land  with 
an  accuracy  of  detail  both  in  fact  and  doctrine  that  is  refreshing,  and  with  a  style  as 
vigorous  and  pointed  as  it  is  clear."— The  American  Church  Almanac,  1895. 

"  Here  is  a  book  for  every  member  of  the  Brotherhood  to  own  and  study.  Mr. 
Smith  very  justly  says  :  '  A  knowledge  of  some  of  the  chief  facts  in  the  history  of  the 
church  has  become  almost  a  necessity  to  every  churchman,  and  there  are,  conse- 
quently, few  subjects  upon  which  lecture-sermons  can  more  appropriately  be  preached 
in  our  day  than  on  Church  History,  especially  on  the  history  of  our  ov\'n  branch. 
To  some  persons  this  may  seem  a  very  unedifying  kind  of  a  subject  ;  they  prefer  what 
is  known  as  "  Gospel  preaching"  ;  they  have  indeed  no  interest  in  any  other;  and  if, 
unfortunately,  they  are  compelled  to  listen  to  any  other,  they  imagine  there  is  no  help 
in  it,  and  are  none  the  better  for  it,  but  rather  the  worse.' 

"  This  is  all  true  enough,  and  when  this  instruction  is  given  with  a  clearness 
and  freshness  that  illuminate  the  subject,  it  becomes  a  pleasure  as  well  as  a  duty  to 
receive  it.  .  .  .  With  a  scholarship  which  is  never  heavy,  v.ith  a  belief  in  the 
Catholic  Church  which  never  descends  into  mere  partisanism,  the  lectures,  in  the 
words  of  the  Bishop  of  Maryland  who  writes  the  preface,  admirably  fulfill  their  pur- 
pose '  to  trace  the  links  of  that  continuity  (between  the  Church  in  America  and  the 
Church  in  England)  to  make  churchmen  feel  sure,  through  them  of  an  apostolic  origin, 
to  help  them  know  that  this  is  no  late-born  sect,  but  that  in  it  we  are  in  the  very 
"  fellowship  of  the  Apostles."  .  .  .  Make  yourself  a  .  .  .  present  of  this  book, 
read  it,  digest  it,  and  then  lend  it  as  widely  as  possible  among  jour  friends." 

— St.  Andrew's  Cross. 

"  The  whole  stors-  is  told  in  strong  and  clear  outline,  in  a  very  interesting  and 
instructive  wav,  and  any  one  who  follows  the  plain  teaching  in  this  little  volume  can- 
not fail  to  be  convinced  of  the  identity  of  our  church  with  that  church  which  the 
Lord  Jesus  founded.  We  wish  that  everv  lavman  would  read  it,  for  we  are  sure  he 
would  find  it  full  of  strength  and  truth."— The  Living  Church. 

THE    BAMPTON    LECTURES    FOR   1893. 

Inspiration :  Eight  Lectures  on  the  Early  History 
and  Origin  of  the  Doctrine  of  Biblical  Inspiration. 

Being  the  Bampton  Lectures  for  1893.  By  the  Rev.  W. 
Sanday,  M.A.,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Dean  Ireland's  Professor  of 
Exegesis,  Fellow  of  Exeter  College,  Oxford,  Preacher  at 
Whitehall.     8vo,  $4.00. 


longmans,  green,  ^  co:s  recent  publications. 

abb6  fouard. 
Saint  Paul  and  his    Missions.     By  the  Abbe  Constant 
Fouard.     Translated  with  the  Author's  sanction  and  co- 
operation by  the  Rev.  George  F.  X.  Griffith.    With  2  Maps. 
Small  8vo,  cloth,  gilt  top,  $2.00. 

"  This  work  may  not  have  the  breadth  of  learning  which  one  finds  in  the  'St. 
Paul '  of  Conybeare  and  Howson  ;  it  certainly  has  not  the  buoyancy  of  Archdeacon 
Farrar's  work  on  the  same  subject ;  it  makes  no  pretension  to  the  minute  accuracy  of 
Lewin  ;  but  it  is  a  very  admirable  work,  for  all  that,  and  to  the  average  reader  it  will 
be  even  more  instructive  than  its  predecessors.  Its  author,  of  course,  is  a  clergyman 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  ;  but  his  candor  is  above  all  praise,  and  his  account  of 
the  church  in  apostolic  days  is  absolutely  faithful  to  historical  fact.  Indeed,  we  find 
tliat  he  explicitly  states  facts  which  writers  in  our  own  church  would  hesitate  to  affirm. 

The  candor  and  simplicity  which  we  find  everywhere  in  the  historical  treatment 
of  our  author's  subject  we  find  not  less  striking  when  he  deals  with  doctrine;  and 
in  his  discussion  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  his  treatment  of  justification  by  faith 
is  so  thoroughly  Scriptural  that  one  cannot  help  wondering  at  the  wearisome  scho- 
lastic logomachv  which,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  so  needlessly  obscured  the  plain 
teaching  of  the  Word  of  God.  Taking  it  all  in  all,  we  have  nothing  but  commendation 
for  the  Abbe  Fouard's  '  5t.  Paul.'  "— Thh  Church  Standard. 

"  We  give  a  hearty  welcome  to  this  new  book  of  the  Abbe  Fouard's.  His  'Saint 
Peter  and  the  First  Years  of  Christianity  '  will  have  raised  the  expectations  of  students 
who  have  known  it,  but  we  think  that  even  they  will  be  hardly  prepared  for  so 
delightful  and  interesting  a  book  as  this  of  the  life  of  St.  Paul.  With  such  good  work 
as  that  of  Conybeare  and  Howson,  Lewin  and  Archdeacon  Farrar,  the  English  scholar 
scarcely  expects  to  find  any  fresh  treatment  of  so  well  worn  a  theme.  But  whilst  it  is 
true  that  there  is  not  much  that  is  new,  the  setting  and  presentation  of  St.  Paul's  life 
is  delightfully  fresh  and  interesting.  The  descriptions  of  his  journeys  are  given  with 
all  that  color  and  life  which  French  artists  give  to  their  landscapes,  and  long  quota- 
tions from  his  letters  are  quite  skillfully  interwoven  into  the  text,  so  that  we  feel  that 
we  know  St.  Paul  better  than  we  did  before  we  took  up  the  Abbe's  work. 

There  are  good  maps,  a  full  index,  and  an  abundant  supply  of  notes  and  refer- 
ences. We  have  had  no  opportunity  of  comparing  the  translation  with  the  original, 
but  we  can  say  that  it  is  eminently  readable.  On  the  whole,  we  believe  there  are  few 
lives  of  St.  Paul  which  the  ordinary  Bible  student  will  find  more  attractive  and  helpful 
than  this  of  the  learned  Abbe." — The  Churchman. 

"This  volume  follows  in  connected  series  'Saint  Peter  and  the  First  Years  of 
Christianity,'  by  the  same  author  and  from  the  same  publishers.  The  Abbe  Fouard 
has  been  fortunate  in  his  translator,  who  has  succeeded  in  carrying  over  into  his  English 
rendering  much  of  the  vivacious  and  eloquent  perspicuity  of  the  original  French  work. 
Abbe  Fouard  lias  done  his  work  in  this  volume  with  great  freedom.  He  touches 
the  great  notes  of  Pauline  doctrine  strongly,  and  proclaims  them  with  an  enthusiasm 
wholly  his  own.  The  translation  enriches  English  theology  with  a  volume  catholic 
in  tone  and  scholarship,  and  whose  merits  in  the  original  form  have  been  recognized 
in  France."— The  Independent. 

BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 

*The  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.*  A  Life  of  Our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  With  an  Introduction  by  Cardinal 
Manning.  2  vols.,  small  8vo,  cloth,  gilt  top,  with  3  Maps, 
$4.00. 

St.  Peter  and  the  First  Years  of  Christianity.  With  an 
Introduction  by  Cardinal  Gibbons.  With  3  Maps.  Small 
8vo,  cloth,  gilt  top,  $2.00. 

4 


LONGMANS,  GREEN,  ^  CO:S  RECENT  PUBLICA  TIONS. 
THE  BISHOP  PADDOCK  LECTURES,   1894. 

The  Permanent  Value  of  the  Book  of  Genesis  as  an 

Integral  Part  of  the  Christian  Revelation.  By  the  Rev. 
C.  W.  E.  Body,  M.A.,  D.C.L.,  Professor  of  Old  Testament 
Literature  and  Interpretation  in  the  General  Theological 
Seminary,  New  York  ;  Sometime  Provost  of  Trinity  Col- 
lege, Toronto,  and  Fellow  of  St.  John's  College,  Cam- 
bridge.    Crown  8vo,  $1.50. 

"  No  greater  service  could  have  been  rendered  at  this  time  to  the  average  body 
of  the  church  clergy  than  these  four  lectures  by  Prof.  Body.  Within  the  limited 
space  restricted  to  the  Paddock  Lectures  he  has  managed  to  give  a  comprehensive 
review  of  the  so-called  Higher  Criticism,  its  history  and  principal  authors,  the  various 
theories  and  conclusions  of  its  literary  analysis  of  the  Old  Testament,  bringing  to  the 
front  its  unresolved  problems,  and  philosophic  or  logical  objections  that  are  fatal  to 
its  assumptions,  and,  above  all,  bringing  out  that  moral  and  spiritual  character  and 
purpose  which  stamps  the  Biblia  Sacra  as  a  Revelation  from  God  for  the  behoof  of 
man,  but  which  mere  perfunctory  critical  scholarship  as  completely  misses,  as  the 
science  of  botany  would  do  that  confined  itself  to  mere  dried  leaves,  stamens,  and 
pistils,  and  details  of  classification,  without  leading  to  the  consideration  of  properties 
and  uses,  relation  to  pharmacopeia,  commercial  value,  or  benefit  to  mankind.  Any 
Christian  will  be  delighted  with  the  incidental  replies  to  Dr.  Eriggs,  and  the  rnasterly 
expose  of  critical  fallacies  among  German  writers,  especially  the  final  discrediting  of 
♦he  presumptuous  and  utterly  groundless  dogmatism  of  such  writers  of  the  extreme 
school  of  Kuenen  and  Wellhausen. 

The  fourth  lecture  on  Creation  and  Paradise,  and  the  fifth  on  the  Deluge  and 
the  Patriarchs  are  intensely  interesting,  and  show  how  Prof.  Sayce  and  the  Monuments 
of  Archaeology  are  rapidly  making  short  work  of  much  of  the  learned  ignorance  of  the 
Higher  Criticisms.  There  are  several  interesting  appendices." 

—The  Church  Eclectic,  Utica,  N.  Y. 

THE  BISHOP  PADDOCK  LECTURES,   1892. 

The  Sacramental  System  Considered  as  the  Extension 
of  the  Incarnation.  By  Morgan  Dix,  S.T.D.,  D.C.L., 
Rector  of  Trinity  Church,  New  York.  Crown  8vo,  260 
pages,  $1.50. 

"  We  have  been  always  hoping  that  the  church  of  these  scientific  days  might  be 
able  to  show  how  deeply  grounded  the  sacramental  system  is  in  nature,  and  the  first 
of  these  lectures  leads  us  to  feel  that  we  shall  not  be  disappointed.  Dr.  Dix  ,  .  . 
shows  what  the  teaching  of  the  church  respecting  nature  has  been  ;  .  .  .  what  the 
remedial  and  restorative  effect  of  the  Incarnation  in  nature  may  be.  .  .  .  It  is  im- 
possible in  the  short  space  of  a  review  to  do  justice  to  the  argument  in  these  two  first 
chapters,  which  we  feel  to  be  of  great  importance  in  these  days."— The  Churchman. 

"  Presented,  as  it  is  in  these  pages,  in  a  fresh  and  lively  way,  in  clear  and  per- 
suasive argument,  it  touches  the  soul,  excites  the  imagination,  and  deepens  one's  faith 
.  .  .  The  treatment  is  scholarly  and  philosophical,  the  discussion  logical  and  con- 
clusive, the  style  clear  and  calm,  and  the  volume  is  timely  and  helpful." 

—The  Living  Church, 

"  It  is  most  gratifying  to  have  Dr.  Dix's  lectures  on  the  sacramental  system  in 
permanent  and  available  form.  The  volume  will  prove  a  valuable  addition  to  the 
religious  literature,  not  of  the  day  only,  but  of  the  age.  .  .  .  The  logical  arrange- 
ment of  the  material  is  admirable,  and  the  diction  at  once  stately  and  precise." 

—St,  Andrew's  Cross. 


LONGMANS,  GREEN,  ^  CO:S  RECENT  PUBLICA  TIONS. 

THE  DEAN  OF  CHRIST  CHURCH. 

Studies  in  the  Christian  Character.  Sermons  with  an 
Introductory  Essay.  By  Francis  Paget,  D.D.,  Dean  of 
Christ  Church,  Oxford  ;  Sometime  Vicar  of  Bromsgrove. 
Crown  8vo,  $1.75. 

CANON    BRIGHT. 

Waymarks  in  Church  History.  By  the  Rev.  William 
Bright,  D.D.,  Canon  of  Christ  Church,  and  Regius  Pro- 
fessor of  Ecclesiastical  History  in  the  University  of  Oxford. 
Crown  8vo,  $2.00. 

"  The  present  volume  .  .  .  is  the  production  of  a  man  who  has  cultivated  the 
habit  of  going  to  original  sources  for  his  materials,  and  who  is  at  once  a  scholar  and 
a  thinker.  While  he  is  everywhere  passionately  devoted  to  the  Church  of  England, 
he  is  also  a  universal  scholar,  and  his  writing  can  be  trusted  as  substantially  correct. 
He  is  one  of  the  few  English  writers  of  to-day  who  carries  the  methods  of  literature 
into  the  study  of  theology  and  the  writing  of  church  history,  and  his  sketches  in  every 
instance  are  fresh  and  strong  and  clear.'' — Boston  Herald. 

"Dr.  Bright  is  so  well  known  to  readers  in  church  history  that,  with  them  at 
least,  no  book  of  his  needs  any  recommendation.  This  volume,  however,  appeals  to 
a  wider  audience  than  students  of  history.  It  is  as  truly  theological  as  it  is  historical 
.  .  .  we  have  in  succession  a  brief  but  scholarly  treatment  of  the  great  religious 
questions  of  the  first  eight  centuries  of  the  church's  life;  and  our  interest  is  main- 
tained by  the  manner  in  which  they  have  been  grouped  round  living  men.  .  .  . 
Twelve  valuable  appendices  give  a  more  complete  treatment  of  some  of  the  serious 
questions  raised  in  the  book  than  was  possible  in  the  text.  .  .  .  Enough  has  been 
said,  we  hope,  to  persuade  the  lover  of  theological  books  to  include  this  in  his  next 
purchase,  for  of  the  many  valuable  books  that  are  being  added  to  our  theological 
libraries,  there  are  few  more  immediately  useful  than  the  one  we  have  noticed." 

— The  Churchman. 
BY  THE  SAME  A  UTHOR. 

Faith  and  Life.  Readings  for  the  Greater  Holy  Days, 
and  the  Sundays  from  Advent  to  Trinity.  Compiled  from 
Ancient  Writers.     Second  Edition.     Small  8vo,  $1.75. 

Morality  in  Doctrine.     Sermons.     Small  8vo,  $2.00. 

Lessons   from   the   Lives   of  Three    Great    Fathers : 

St.  Athanasius,  St.  Chrysostom,  and  St.  Augustine.     With 
Appendices.     Crown  8vo,  $2.00. 

"  The  lectures,  as  their  title  indicates,  are  rather  anecdotical  than  biographical. 
As  such  thev  are  suggestive,  and  will  doubtless  help  readers  that  are  not  themselves 
students  of  the  Fathers,  to  a  clearer  conception  of  the  characters  and  services  of  the 
three  men."— Christian  Literature. 

The  Incarnation  as  a  Motive  Power.  Sermons.  Second 
Edition.     Crown  8vo,  $2.00. 


LONGMANS,  GREEN,  &^  CO.'S  RECENT  PUBLIC  A  TIONS. 

REV.   HERBERT   BRANSTON   GRAY. 

'*Men  of  Like  Passions":  Being  Characters  of  some 
Bible  Heroes  and  Other  Sermons.  Preached  to  Bradfield 
Boys.  By  the  Rev.  Herbert  Branston  Gray,  D.D., 
Warden  of  Bradfield  College,  Berks.     Crown  8vo,  $1.75. 

"The  first  thing  that  strikes  the  reader  of  these  sermons  will  assuredly  be  their 
fitness  for  Iheir  purpose.  .  .  .  The  sermons  are  partly  sermons  on  the  saints  of 
tiie  Prayer  Book  and  partly  on  some  of  the  Old  Testament  characters,  with  one  or 
two  occasional  commemorative  discourses.  All  are  brief,  pointed,  and  thoughtful, 
and  we  can  assure  our  readers  that  they  are  well  worth  the  study  of  much  older 
and  more  instructed  hearers  than  those  for  whom  they  are  prepared." 

—The  Churchman. 

"They  are  manly  in  tone,  earnest  in  spirit,  and  must  have  been  very  interesting 
to  listen  to.  Like  a  master  bowman  he  cleans  the  mark  he  aims  at,  and  under  such 
teaching  the  boys  of  Bradfield  ought  to  develop  into  manly  men.  They  may  be  read 
with  advantage  by  anybody,  but  every  one  who  has  to  do  with  boys,  parents  as  well  as 
teachers,  v/ould  fiiid  very  much  that  is  helpful  and  profitable." — Pacific  Churchman. 

REV.   A.  J.   HARRISON. 

The  Repose  of  Faith:  In  View  of  Present-Day  Diffi- 
culties. By  the  Rev.  Alexander  J.  Harrison,  B.D., 
Vicar  of  Lightcliffe,  Evidential  Missioner  of  the  Church 
Parochial  Mission  Society,  and  Lecturer  of  the  Christian 
Evidence  Society,  Boyle  Lecturer,  1892,  etc.  Crown  8vo, 
$2.00. 

BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 

Problems  of  Christianity  and  Scepticism.  Lessons 
from  Twenty  Years'  Experience  in  the  Field  of  Christian 
Evidence.     Crown  8vo,  $2.25. 

"  So  wise  and  practical  a  volume  as  this  cannot  fail  to  do  great  good.  .  .  .  The 
style  of  the  book  is  popular  throughout.  .  .  .  The  third  book  is  a  summary  of 
lessons  drawn  from  his  own  history.  It  describes  the  work  he  has  done  in  the  line 
of  the  subject  of  the  volume,  a  work  which  has  been  his  specialty  for  a  long  time,  and 
considers  all  practical  matters  suggested  at  one  or  another  point.  The  whole  volume, 
and  this  portion  of  it  in  particular,  will  be  found  serviceable  by  all  who  have  oppor- 
tunities of  influencing  those  of  a  sceptical  frame  of  mind.  We  commend  the  work  to 
Christians  also,  not  merely  for  its  valuable  statements  of  their  views  of  truth,  but 
quite  as  much  because  of  its  importance  as  an  example  of  good  sense,  courtesy,  and 
tact  in  religious  argument." — The  Congregationalist. 

The  Church  in  Relation  to  Sceptics.  A  Conversa- 
tional Guide  to  Evidential  Work.     Crown  8vo,  $2.00. 

"  Mr.  Harrison  has  had  many  years'  practical  experience  in  the  work  to  which 
this  may  be  regarded  as  a  hand-book,  and  an  extremely  good  one  it  is.  .  .  ,  The 
book  is  a  most  helpful  one,  and  every  one  engaged  in  pastoral  work  would  find  it  an 
invaluable  help."— Pacific  Churchman. 


LONGMANS,  GREEN,  6-  CO:S  RECENT  PUBLICA  TIONS. 
DEAN    LUCKOCK. 

The    History    of    Marriage,    Jewish    and    Christian, 

in  Relation  to  Divorce  and  Certain  Forbidden  Degrees. 
By  the  Rev.  Herbert  Mortimer  Luckock,  D.D.,  Dean 
of  Lichfield.     Crown  8vo,  $1.75. 

"This  volume  is  full  of  original  and  patient  research,  characterized  by  bro.id  his- 
torical grasp  and  ample  learning,  and  written  in  a  pleasant  and  agreeable  style.  ' 

—The  Living  Church. 

CANON    MACCOLL. 

Life  Here  and  Hereafter.  Sermons.  By  the  Rev. 
Malcolm  Maccoll,  M.A.,  Canon  Residentiary  of  Ripon. 
Crown  8vo,  $2,25. 

CANON    NEWBOLT. 

Speculum  Sacerdotum ;  or,  The  Divine  Model  of  the 
Priestly  Life.  By  the  Rev.  W.  C.  E.  Newbolt,  M.A., 
Canon  and  Chancellor  of  St.  Paul's.     Crown  8vo,  $2.00. 

"We  have  nothing  but  praise  for  this  beautiful  collection  of  addresses  which  Dr. 
Liddon's  able  successor  has,  to  use  his  own  modest  phrase, '  submitted  to  the  kindness 
and  forbearance  of  those  whose  lives  are  a  constant  exposition  of  the  inspired  words 
of  the  apostle,  in  the  ranks  of  the  Anglican  clergy.  .  .  .'  The  author  knows  whereof 
he  speaks,  and,  accordingly,  every  word  tells.  "We  know  of  no  book  that  would  give 
such  real  help  to  the  clergy  as  this,  none  that  would  be  so  suitable  as  a  gift  to  those 
about  to  be  ordained  on  Trinity  Sunday.  Such  encouragement  and  warning  given  at 
the  outset  of  a  man's  ministry  might  change  and  uplift  it." 

—The  Churchman,  New  York. 

"  We  consider  it  a  great  pitv  that  such  a  book  as  this,  so  freighted  with  instruction, 
so  full  of  spirituality,  so  graceful  in  expression,  so  gracious  in  spirit,  should  be  sent 
out  under  a  title  which  implies  that  it  is  intended  for  the  clergy  only.  There  is  a  com- 
pensation, however,  in  the  thought  that  every  clergyman  who  reads  it  will  be  likely  to 
preach  it  over  and  over  again  to  the  people  of  his  charge." 

—The  Church  Standard,  Philadelphia. 

"...  A  book  which  every  clergyman  ought  to  read  and  re-read  till  he  has 
thoroughly  assimilated  it  and  wrought  it  into  the  very  texture  of  his  being.  Candi- 
dates for  Holy  Orders,  and  the  younger  clergy  especially,  should  make  a  special  study 
of  it.    The  book  is  invaluable.    .    .    ."—Pacific  Church.man. 

BY   THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 

Counsels  of  Faith  and  Practice  :  Being  Sermons  Preached 
on  Various  Occasions.  New  and  Enlarged  Edition.  Crown 
8vo,  $1.50. 

"  What  men  are  crying  out  for  is  not  so  much  intellectual  as  spiritual  wisdom  ;  not 
so  much  theology  as  the  application  of  theology  to  their  own  spiritual  needs.  And 
this  need  is  abundantly  met  by  those  strong,  thoughtful,  and  stimulating  '  Counsels  of 
Faith  and  Practice.'  " — The  Churchman. 


LONGMANS,  GREEN,  &=  CO.'S  RECENT  PUBLICATIONS. 

CANON    T.   T.   CARTER. 

Nicholas  Ferrar  :  His  Household  and  his  Friends.  Edited 
by  the  Rev.  T.  T.  Carter,  M.A.,  Hon,  Canon  of  Christ 
Church,  Oxford.  With  Portrait  engraved  after  a  picture 
by  Cornelius  Janssen  at  Magdalene  College,  Cambridge. 
Crown  8vo,  $r.75. 

"  The  little  volume  before  us  is  a  real  boon  to  the  church.  It  might  well  be  made 
a  part  of  the  Lent  reading  of  those  who  would  know  what  types  of  saintliness,  after 
the  ancient  model,  the  Anglican  Church  has  been  able  to  produce."— Living  Church. 

BISHOP    COPLESTON. 

Buddhism,  Primitive  and  Present ;  in  Magadha  and 
Ceylon.  By  Reginald  Stephen  Copleston,  D.D., 
Bishop  of  Colombo,  President  of  the  Ceylon  Branch  of 
the  Royal  Asiatic  Society.     8vo,  $5.00. 

"Notwithstanding  the  numerous  works  on  Buddhism  recently  issued,  there  was 
room  for  a  book  which,  neglecting  the  side-growths,  should  undertake  to  give  a  con- 
tinuous history  of  the  primitive  faith  of  Gotama.  This  task  Bishop  Copleston  has 
performed  with  excellent  judgment  and  skill."— The  Nation,  New  York. 

REV.   WYLLYS    REDE,    M.A. 

The  Communion  of  Saints.  By  the  Rev.  Wyllys  Rede, 
M.A,,  Rector  of  Emmanuel  Church,  Rockford,  Illinois. 
With  a  Preface  by  Lord  Halifax.     Crown  8vo,  f  1.25. 

"The  substance  of  this  book  was  delivered  in  a  course  of  lectures  at  St.  Mark's, 
Evanston,  111.,  during  the  Lent  of  1892.  There  is  an  introduction  by  Lord  Halifax, 
President  of  the  English  Church  Union,  which  is  in  itself  a  clear  statement  of  the  doc- 
trine which  Mr.  Rede  expounds  in  the  book.  But  we  do  not  agree  with  the  assertion 
on  the  title-page  that  it  is  a  '  Lost  Link  in  the  Church's  Creed.'  Whatever  obscura- 
tion it  suffered  in  past  da^-s,  it  has  now  emerged  from  into  the  verj'  forefront  of  church 
teaching.  However,  if  this  was  one  of  the  motives  which  led  to  the  production  of  the 
book,  we  are  disposed  to  rejoice  in  the  assumption  to  which  we  are  indebted  for  a 
very  clever  and  sympathetic  work.  The  leading  idea  of  the  book  is  the  permanence 
of  relationships  in  the  Body  of  Christ,  which  is  His  Church,  and  the  Communion  of 
Samts. 

There  is  a  chapter  on  '  Prayers  for  the  Dead,'  which  puts  that  matter  in  a  very 
clear  and  reasonable  light.  The  book  is  valuable  as  a  clear  exposition  of  the  teaching 
of  the  church  concerning  the  fellowship,  the  brotherhood  v/hich  in  her  mind  exists 
between  all  who  are  baptized  into  the  Church  of  Christ,  whether  living  or  departed. 
And  it  will  be  found  no  less  valuable  as  affording  the  truest  and  most  efficacious  con- 
solation to  all  the  sad  comoanv  of  those  who  grieve  because  their  friends  are  not. 
One  turns  awav  with  almost 'angry  impatience  from  the  wearisome  commonplaces  with 
which  many  good  people  seek  to  bind  up  the  breaking  heart— for  they  act  like  salt 
upon  a  raw  wound.  It  is  only  in  the  truth  that  all  are  one  in  Christ,  the  doctrine  of 
the  Communion  of  Saints,  that  anv  healing  for  such  sorrow  resides.  Therefore,  both 
on  this  account  and  for  the  clear  statement  of  this  doctrine,  the  book  is  a  very  valua- 
ble one,  and  deserves  to  be  not  only  widely  read  by  church  people,  but  carefully 
digested."— Pacific  Churchman. 


LONGMANS,  GREEN,  &^  CO.'S  RECENT  PUBLICATIONS. 

The  Inheritance  of  the  Saints  ;  or,  Thoughts  on  the 
Communion  of  Saints  and  the  Life  of  the  V/orld  to  Come. 
Collected  chiefly  from  English  Writers  by  L.  P.  With  a 
Preface  by  the  Rev.  H.  Scott  Holland,  M.A.,  Canon  and 
Precentor  of  St.  Paul's.     Crown  8vo,  $2.00. 

"  We  can  heartily  commend  it  as  full  of  sweet  thoughts.  It  is  not  at  all  authori- 
tative, but  there  is  nothing  authoritative  in  these  subjects.  The  devout  will  read  it 
and  bless  God." — Standard  of  the  Cross. 

"Selected  and  put  together  with  much  care  and  skill,  and  under  the  guiding 
motive  of  a  dominant  churchly  spirit,  and  a  strong  desire  to  help  the  children  of  faith 
to  realize  on  earth  the  reality  and  nearness  of  the  world  to  come  as  well  as  their  own 
relation  to  the  City  and  Kingdom  of  God."— The  Independent. 

"  Though  this  admirable  volume  is  a  compilation  ofthe  thoughts  of  others  it  will 
be  as  widely  read,  we  believe,  as  though  it  were  the  original  work  of  its  author.  The 
book  is  well  arranged,  the  subjects  for  the  most  part  being  illustrated  by  a  text,  pass- 
ages from  authors  in  prose  or  verse,  and  a  prayer.  It  would  make  a  suitable  and 
acceptable  Easter  gift."— The  Churchman. 

Verba  Verbi  Dei :  The  Words  of  Our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ.  Harmonized  by  the  Author  of  *'  Charles 
Lowder."  With  an  Litroduction  on  the  Different  Periods 
in  Our  Lord's  Life  on  Earth.     Crown  8vo,  $1.50. 

"  This  is  a  book  which  everj-body  ought  to  have  at  hand.  It  contains  the  words 
of  our  Lord  alone,  and  there  are  times  when  one  cares  to  read  or  think  of  no  other 
words  than  His.  Even  apostles  and  prophets  mav  sometimes  be  properly  included 
in  the  words  of  Saint  Thomas  a  Kempis  :  '  Let  all  the  doctors  hold  their  pea'ce  ;  speak 
Thou  alone  to  me.'  The  words  are  arranged  in  successive  periods,  including  (i)  the 
words  of  our  Saviour  as  a  child,  at  His  baptism,  and  in  the  tem])tation ;  (2)  at  the 
beginning  of  his  ministry;  (3)  during  His  first  public  ministrv  in  Galilee;  (4)  during 
His  ministry  in  Judea,  and  subsequentlv  to  the  last  Passover;  (5)  during  the  week  of 
His  passion;  (6)  during  the  great  Forty  Davs,  and  afterwards  to  Annanias  and  St. 
Paul.     We  heartily  commend  this  compilation  to  all  students  of  Holy  Scripture." 

— The  Church  Standard. 

"The  book  is  chiefly  intended  for  devotional  use,  and  its  unique  plan,  its  lucid 
arrangement,  and  its  consistent  self-restriction  to  the  ipsissima  verba  of  our  Lord, 
will  assuredly  give  it  a  very  high  place  among  books  of  that  class." 

—The  Churchman. 

REV.    G.    R.     PRY  N  HE. 

The  Truth  and  Reality  of  the  Eucharistic  Sacrifice, 

Proved  from  Holy  Scripture,  the  Teaching  of  the  Primitive 
Church,  and  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  By  George 
RuNDLE  Prynne,  M.A.,  Vicar  of  St.  Peter's,  Plymouth; 
Author  of  "The  Eucharistic  Manual,"  etc.  Crown  8vo, 
$1-25. 

"  An  admirable  presentation  of  the  subject.  Mr.  Prynne's  book  is  brief  and  read- 
able, and  contains  in  a  concise  form  some  of  the  most  salient  facts  and  arguments 
which  have  been  adduced  by  learned  divines  in  support  of  the  truth  and  reality  of  the 
Eucharistic  Sacrifice."— The  Churchman. 


LONGMANS,  GREEN,  ^  CO:S  RECENT  PUBLICATIONS. 
REV.   RICHARD   W.   HILEY,   D.D. 

A  Year's  Sermons.  Based  upon  some  of  the  Scriptures 
appointed  for  each  Sunday  Morning.  By  the  Rev. 
Richard  W.  Hiley,  D.D.,  of  St.  Mary  Hall,  Oxford,  Vicar 
of  Wighill,  Tadcaster,  Yorkshire.  In  two  volumes.  Vol.  I., 
January — June.  Vol.  II.,  July — December.  Crown  8vo, 
each,  $2.00. 

'•  Very  plain,  practical  sermons,  which  it  is  at  once  a  pleasure  and  a  profit  to  read. 
Thoroughly  evangelistic,  they  are  yet  eminently  adapted  to  the  needs  and  cares  of  the 
every-day  man."— The  Chcrchman. 

THE   ORACLES    OF    PAPIAS. 

The  Oracles  Ascribed  to  Matthew  by  Papias  of  Hier- 
apolis  :  A  Contribution  to  the  Criticism  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. With  Appendices  on  the  Authorship  of  the  De  Vita 
Contemplativa,  the  Date  of  the  Crucifixion,  and  the  Date 
of  the  Martyrdom  of  Polycarp.     Crown  8vo,  $2.00. 

CANON   AND    MRS.    S.   A.   BARNETT. 

Practicable  Socialism  :  Essays  on  Social  Reform.  By  the 
Rev.  Canon  and  Mrs.  S.  A.  Barnett.  New  and  Enlarged 
Edition.     Crown  8vo,  $1.50. 

"  These  papers  are  really  practical  and  helpful  in  their  suggestions  to  people  who 
want  to  do  something  to  help  the  poor,"— Scotsman. 

"  In  republishing  these  essays  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  authors  have  made 
society  deeply  their  debtors.  .  .  .  Every  social  reformer  will  be  the  better  for  the 
perusal  of  this  book."— Daily  Telegraph. 

"  It  is  a  very  practical  and  admirable  work  and  still  timely  and  appropriate.  We 
value  this  volume  the  more  highly  because  while  quite  as  practical  and  suggestive  as 
any  other,  it  is  pervaded  by  a  decided  and  helpful  Christian  spirit  and  tone." 

—Boston  Congregationalist. 

REV.   F.   W.    PULLER,  M.A. 

The    Primitive    Saints   and   the    See   of  Rome.     By 

F.  W.  Puller,  M.A.,  Mission  Priest  of  the  Society  of  St. 
John  the  Evangelist,  Cowley,  Oxford.      Crown  8vo,  $2.25. 

"  Our  earnest  recommendation  of  this  book  can  be  best  emphasized  by  the  eulogy 
which  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  pronounces — and  no  one  could  be  fitter  to  pronounce  it 
—on  'the  brilliancy  of  the  Christian  spirit  which  runs  through  it  all.'  " 

—Guardian,  London. 

"  An  excellent  compendium  for  American  churchmen  now,  when  the  Roman 
question  has  taken  a  new  turn  in  this  country  ...  no  one  can  afford  to  despise 
a  carefully  digested  manual  like  this."— The  Churchman,  New  York, 


LONGMANS,  GREEN,  6-  CO:S  RECENT  PUBLICA  TIONS. 
NEW  BOOK  BY  A.   K.  H.  B. 

St.  Andrews  and  Elsewhere  :  Glimpses  of  Some  Gone 
and  of  Things  Left.  By  A.  K.  H.  Boyd,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
First  Minister  of  St.  Andrews  ;  Author  of  ''  Recreations  of 
a  Country  Parson,"  "Twenty-five  Years  of  St.  Andrews," 
etc.     8vo,  $4.00. 

"  This  volume  has  one  serious  fault.  It  is  too  full  of  good  stories.  .  .  .  The 
truth  is  that  this  is  a  very  enjoyable  volume,  and  the  author  himself  is  always  a  source 
of  delight." — North  British  Daily  Mail. 

"  In  the  present  book  will  be  found  a  series  of  reminiscences  of  Dean  Stanley, 
of  Canon  Hugh  Pearson,  and  of  Mr.  Froude.  There  are  plenty  of  anecdotes  about 
all  three — some  racy  enough."— Times. 

BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 

Twenty-five    Years    of    St.    Andrews,    1865   to   xSgo. 

2  vols.,  8vo.      Vol.  I.    1867-1878,  $3.00.      Vol.  II.   1878- 
1890,  $3.00. 

"  These  reminiscences  are  so  unique  that  one  can  hardly  place  them.  They  present 
Dr.  Boyd's  social  life  and,  to  some  degree,  his  personality  in  a  very  strong  light.  They 
contain  something  characteristic  of  nearly  everybody.  The  pages  are  full  of  bright 
nnd  entertaining  matter.  .  ,  .  We  are  certain  that  not  since  Boswell's  'Life  of 
Dr.  Johnson,'  has  a  more  entertaining  book  of  notable  sketches  and  conversations 
been  written. 

These  volumes  will  have  a  permanent  interest  for  all  who  have  a  desire  to  know 
something  about  many  of  the  most  notable  persons  in  England  and  Scotland  during 
the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century."— The  Outlook. 

REV.   H.   E.   HALL,   M.A. 

Manual  of  Christian  Doctrine.  Chiefly  intended  for 
Confirmation  Classes.  By  the  Rev.  H.  E.  Hall,  M.A., 
Vicar  of  S.  Benet  and  All  Saints',  Kentish  Town,  N.W.  ; 
Author  of  "  Leadership  not  Lordship,"  "The  Ritualists  and 
the  Reformation."  With  a  Preface  by  the  Rev.  W.  H. 
Hutchings,  M.A,,  Rector  of  Kirby  Misperton,  and  Rural 
Dean.     Fcap.  8vo,  80  pages,  30  cents. 

This  manual  aims  at  helping  the  teacher  as  well  as  the  taught  and  is  therefore 
of  a  more  distinctly  theological  character  than  many  of  a  similar  kind  that  are  already 
ill  existence 

The  author  interprets  the  Prayer  Book  in  the  light  of  Catholic  Truth,  taking 
antiquity  and  not  novelty  for  his  guide.  He  adheres  to  the  traditional  teaching  ot 
Western  Christendom,  and  is  careful,  in  exalting  the  gift  of  Confirmation,  not  to 
depreciate  that  of  Baptism.  He  is  alive,  too,  to  the  practical  advantage  of  separating 
rhe  period  of  life  for  the  reception  of  Confirmation  from  that  of  the  initial  Sacrament, 
in  order  that  fresh  grace  and  strength  may  be  vouchsafed  to  the  young,  just  betore 
they  have  to  meet  new  temntations  and  to  go  forth  into  the  world.      .        _      . 

Although  the  manual  is  especially  intended  as  a  help  m  giving  Confirmation 
rlr.sses,  much  of  it  may  have  a  wider  use,  either  as  the  basis  of  a  series  of  instructions, 
or  for  catechising  in  church  and  in  the  schools. 

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